Isaiah 42:20
18 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?
Though seeing many things, you do not keep watch. Though your ears are open, you do not hear.”
21 The LORD was pleased, for the sake of His righteousness, to magnify His law and make it glorious.
22 But this is a people plundered and looted, all trapped in caves or imprisoned in dungeons. They have become plunder with no one to rescue them, and loot with no one to say, “Send them back!”
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
- Though seeing many things, you do not keep watch. Though your ears are open, you do not hear.”
- KJV
- Seeing many things, but thou observest not; opening the ears, but he heareth not.
- WEB
- You see many things, but don’t observe. His ears are open, but he doesn’t listen.
- ASV
- Thou seest many things, but thou observest not; his ears are open, but he heareth not.
- DARBY
- seeing many things, and thou observest not? With opened ears, he heareth not.
- BLB
- Seeing many things, you do not keep watch; opening the ears, and he does not hear.”
- ÅB
- Du har sett meget, men du tar ikke vare på det, han har åpne ører, men han hører ikke.
- OTB
- Du har sett mange ting, men du husker dem ikke; dine ører er åpne, men ingen lytter.
- B1930
- Du har sett meget, men du tar ikke vare på det, han har åpne ører, men han hører ikke.
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Deuteronomy 29:2–4
Moses summoned all Israel and proclaimed to them, “You have seen with your own eyes everything the LORD did in Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his officials, and to all his land.
Read in contextActs 28:22–27
But we consider your views worth hearing, because we know that people everywhere are speaking against this sect.”
Read in contextIsaiah 1:3
The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s manger, but Israel does not know; My people do not understand.”
Read in contextIsaiah 58:2
For day after day they seek Me and delight to know My ways, like a nation that does what is right and does not forsake the justice of their God. They ask Me for righteous judgments; they delight in the nearness of God.”
Read in contextJohn 11:37–50
But some of them asked, “Could not this man who opened the eyes of the blind also have kept Lazarus from dying?”
Read in contextPsalms 107:43
Let him who is wise pay heed to these things and consider the loving devotion of the LORD.
Read in contextRomans 2:21
you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal?
Read in contextEzekiel 33:31
So My people come to you as usual, sit before you, and hear your words; but they do not put them into practice. Although they express love with their mouths, their hearts pursue dishonest gain.
Read in context