Acts 28:26

²⁴ Some of them were convinced by what he said, but others refused to believe.

²⁵ They disagreed among themselves and began to leave after Paul had made this final statement: “The Holy Spirit was right when He spoke to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet:

‘Go to this people and say, “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.”

²⁷ For this people’s heart has grown callous; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.’

²⁸ Be advised, therefore, that God’s salvation has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen!”

Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: ‘Go to this people and say, “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.”
KJV: Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive:
WEB: saying, ‘Go to this people and say, in hearing, you will hear, but will in no way understand. In seeing, you will see, but will in no way perceive.
ASV: saying, Go thou unto this people, and say, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall in no wise understand; And seeing ye shall see, and shall in no wise perceive:
DARBY: saying, Go to this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear and not understand, and seeing ye shall see and not perceive.
BLB: saying: ‘Go to this people and say, “In hearing you⁺ will hear and never understand; and in seeing you⁺ will see and never perceive.”

ÅB: Gå til dette folk og si: Dere skal høre og høre og ikke forstå, og se og se og ikke skjelne;
OTB: og sa,
‘Gå til dette folket og si,
“Dere skal høre og høre, men aldri forstå;
dere skal se og se, men aldri oppfatte.”
B1930: Gå til dette folk og si: I skal høre og høre og ikke forstå, og se og se og ikke skjelne;

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Isaiah 6:9–10
And He replied: “Go and tell this people, ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
Read in context
Ezekiel 12:2
“Son of man, you are living in a rebellious house. They have eyes to see but do not see, and ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious house.
Read in context
Isaiah 42:19–20
Who is blind but My servant, or deaf like the messenger I am sending? Who is blind like My covenant partner, or blind like the servant of the LORD?
Read in context
Matthew 13:14–15
In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled: ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
Read in context
Mark 4:12
so that, ‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven.’”
Read in context
Luke 24:45
Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.
Read in context
2 Corinthians 4:4–6
The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
Read in context
Romans 11:8–10
as it is written: “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that could not see, and ears that could not hear, to this very day.”
Read in context