Isaiah 42:18
16 I will lead the blind by a way they did not know; I will guide them on unfamiliar paths. I will turn darkness into light before them and rough places into level ground. These things I will do for them, and I will not forsake them.
17 But those who trust in idols and say to molten images, ‘You are our gods!’ will be turned back in utter shame.
Listen, you deaf ones; look, you blind ones, that you may see!
19 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?
20 Though seeing many things, you do not keep watch. Though your ears are open, you do not hear.”
This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- Listen, you deaf ones; look, you blind ones, that you may see!
- KJV
- Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see.
- WEB
- “Hear, you deaf, and look, you blind, that you may see.
- ASV
- Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see.
- DARBY
- Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see.
- BLB
- Listen, O deaf ones, and look O blind ones, in order to see.
- ÅB
- Dere døve, hør! Og dere blinde, lukk øynene opp og se!
- OTB
- Hør, dere døve; se, dere blinde, og se!
- B1930
- I døve, hør! Og I blinde, lukk øinene op og se!
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Isaiah 43:8
Bring out a people who have eyes but are blind, and who have ears but are deaf.
Read in contextMark 7:34–37
And looking up to heaven, He sighed deeply and said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means, “Be opened!”).
Read in contextIsaiah 29:18
On that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and out of the deep darkness the eyes of the blind will see.
Read in contextProverbs 20:12
Ears that hear and eyes that see— the LORD has made them both.
Read in contextIsaiah 35:5
Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
Read in contextRevelation 3:17–18
You say, ‘I am rich; I have grown wealthy and need nothing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.
Read in contextLuke 7:22
So He replied, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.
Read in contextExodus 4:11
And the LORD said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Or who makes the mute or the deaf, the sighted or the blind? Is it not I, the LORD?
Read in context