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Isaiah 6:9

Judgment

7 And with it he touched my mouth and said: “Now that this has touched your lips, your iniquity is removed and your sin is atoned for.”

8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying: “Whom shall I send? Who will go for Us?” And I said: “Here am I. Send me!”

And He replied: “Go and tell this people, ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’

10 Make the hearts of this people calloused; deafen their ears and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

11 Then I asked: “How long, O Lord?” And He replied: “Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left unoccupied and the land is desolate and ravaged,

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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
And He replied: “Go and tell this people, ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
KJV
And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
WEB
He said, “Go, and tell this people, ‘You hear indeed, but don’t understand. You see indeed, but don’t perceive.’
ASV
And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
DARBY
And he said, Go; and thou shalt say unto this people, Hearing ye shall hear and shall not understand, and seeing ye shall see and shall not perceive.
BLB
And He said, “Go and say to the people this: ‘Be ever hearing and never understanding, and be ever seeing and never knowing.’
ÅB
Og han sa: Gå avsted og si til dette folk: Hør og hør, men forstå ikke, og se og se, men skjønn ikke!
OTB
Han sa: "Gå og si til dette folket: 'Dere skal høre og høre, men aldri forstå; dere skal se og se, men aldri oppfatte.'
B1930
Og han sa: Gå avsted og si til dette folk: Hør og hør, men forstå ikke, og se og se, men skjønn ikke!

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

  • 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.

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  • Luke 8:10

    He replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, ‘though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.’

    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.’”

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  • John 12:40

    “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so that they cannot see with their eyes, and understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.”

    Read in context

  • Acts 28:26–27

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

    Read in context

  • Romans 11:8

    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.”

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  • Isaiah 29:13

    Therefore the Lord said: “These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is but rules taught by men.

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  • Isaiah 44:18–20

    They do not comprehend or discern, for He has shut their eyes so they cannot see and closed their minds so they cannot understand.

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