Christian Standard Bible
Isaiah 6:9
9And he replied: Go! Say to these people: Keep listening, but do not understand; keep looking, but do not perceive.
Isaiah 6:9 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
- New International Version (NIV)He said, “Go and tell this people: “ ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
- English Standard Version (ESV)And he said, "Go, and say to this people: "'Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.'
- New King James Version (NKJV)And He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’
Context of Isaiah 6:9
7He touched my mouth with it and said: Now that this has touched your lips, your iniquity is removed and your sin is atoned for. 8Then I heard the voice of the Lord asking: Who will I send? Who will go for us? I said: Here I am. Send me. And he replied: Go! Say to these people: Keep listening, but do not understand; keep looking, but do not perceive. 10Make the minds of these people dull; deafen their ears and blind their eyes; otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears, understand with their minds, turn back, and be healed. 11Then I said, “Until when, Lord?” And he replied: Until cities lie in ruins without inhabitants, houses are without people, the land is ruined and desolate,
Read all of Isaiah 6Isaiah 6:9 word by word
וַיֹּ֕אמֶר לֵ֥ךְ וְאָמַרְתָּ֖ לָעָ֣ם הַזֶּ֑ה שִׁמְע֤וּ שָׁמ֙וֹעַ֙ וְאַל־תָּבִ֔ינוּ וּרְא֥וּ רָא֖וֹ וְאַל־תֵּדָֽעוּ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Isaiah 6:9
- Isaiah 29:13The Lord said: These people approach me with their speeches to honor me with lip-service, yet their hearts are far from me, and human rules direct their worship of me.
- Isaiah 30:8Go now, write it on a tablet in their presence and inscribe it on a scroll; it will be for the future, forever and ever.
- Exodus 32:7The Lord spoke to Moses: “Go down at once! For your people you brought up from the land of Egypt have acted corruptly.
- Jeremiah 15:1Then the Lord said to me, “Even if Moses and Samuel should stand before me, my compassions would not reach out to these people. Send them from my presence, and let them go.
- Hosea 1:9Then the Lord said: Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not my people, and I will not be your God.
- Isaiah 43:8Bring out a people who are blind, yet have eyes, and are deaf, yet have ears.
- Isaiah 44:18Such people do not comprehend and cannot understand, for he has shut their eyes so they cannot see, and their minds so they cannot understand.
- Matthew 13:14Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says: You will listen and listen, but never understand; you will look and look, but never perceive.
- Mark 4:12so that they may indeed look, and yet not perceive; they may indeed listen, and yet not understand; otherwise, they might turn back and be forgiven.”
- Luke 8:10So he said, “The secrets of the kingdom of God have been given for you to know, but to the rest it is in parables, so that Looking they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.
- John 12:40He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so that they would not see with their eyes or understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.
- Acts 28:26when he said, Go to these people and say: You will always be listening, but never understanding; and you will always be looking, but never perceiving.
- Romans 11:8as it is written, God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that cannot see and ears that cannot hear, to this day.
Commentaries on Isaiah 6:9
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 9And he said - לי li, to me, two MSS. and the Syriac. Thirteen MSS. have ראה raah, in the regular form.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 9And he said - The expressions which follow are those which denote hardness of heart and blindness of mind. They would hear the words of the prophet, but they would not understand him. They were so obstinately bent on iniquity that they would neither believe nor regard him. This shows the spirit with which ministers must deliver the message of God. It is their business to deliver the message, though they should know that it will neither be understood nor…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 9-13Verses 9-13 God sends Isaiah to foretell the ruin of his people. Many hear the sound of God's word, but do not feel the power of it. God sometimes, in righteous judgment, gives men up to blindness of mind, because they will not receive the truth in the love of it. But no humble inquirer after Christ, need to fear this awful doom, which is a spiritual judgment on those who will still hold fast their sins. Let every one pray for the enlightening of the Holy…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 9never understanding … never perceiving: The prophet's words revealed the true feelings of his audience. The people were so deep in sin that hearing the truth pushed them further from God instead of closer (for example, Ahaz, Isaiah 7). Yet, the truth needed to be spoken. Jesus also used this principle in his own preaching (Matthew 13:14–15; Luke 8:10; 19:42; John 12:40; see also Acts 28:26–27; Romans 11:8).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 99. Hear ... indeed--Hebrew, "In hearing hear," that is, Though ye hear the prophet's warnings again and again, ye are doomed, because of your perverse will (Joh 7:17), not to understand. Light enough is given in revelation to guide those sincerely seeking to know, in order that they may do, God's will; darkness enough is left to confound the wilfully blind (Is 43:8). So in Jesus' use of parables (Mt 13:14). see ... indeed--rather, "though ye see again and…Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 6:9
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Isaiah 6
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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