EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Isaiah 29:12
12Give the book to someone who cannot read and tell them, ‘Read it, please.’ But he will answer, ‘I do not know how to read.’
Isaiah 29:12 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.
- New International Version (NIV)Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I don’t know how to read.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)And when they give the book to one who cannot read, saying, "Read this," he says, "I cannot read."
- New King James Version (NKJV)Then the book is delivered to one who is illiterate, saying, “Read this, please.” And he says, “I am not literate.”
Context of Isaiah 29:12
10It is the Lord who has caused you to be like that. He has caused you to be completely asleep. He has shut the eyes of your prophets and he has covered the heads of your seers. 11You do not understand this vision that the Lord has given to me. It is like the words in a closed book. Give the book to someone who can read. Say to him, ‘Read this, please.’ But he will answer, ‘I cannot read it, because someone has closed it.’ Give the book to someone who cannot read and tell them, ‘Read it, please.’ But he will answer, ‘I do not know how to read.’ 13The Lord God says, ‘These people open their mouths to worship me. They use their lips to say that I am great. But they are not really thinking about me. When they worship me, they use rules that people have taught them. 14So now I will surprise these people again. I will surprise them with great miracles! Wise people will not seem wise any more. Clever people will no longer seem to be clever.’
Read all of Isaiah 29Isaiah 29:12 word by word
וְנִתַּ֣ן הַסֵּ֗פֶר עַל֩ אֲשֶׁ֨ר לֹֽא־יָדַ֥ע סֵ֛פֶר לֵאמֹ֖ר קְרָ֣א נָא־זֶ֑ה וְאָמַ֕ר לֹ֥א יָדַ֖עְתִּי סֵֽפֶר׃ סRead the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Isaiah 29:12
- Isaiah 29:18At that time, deaf people will be able to hear when someone is reading words from a book. Blind people who have been living in a dark place will be able see what is happening.
- Isaiah 28:12In the past, he said to them, ‘This is a place where you can rest when you are tired. It is a place where you can be safe.’ But his people refused to listen.
- Jeremiah 5:4I thought, ‘These are poor, foolish people. They do not understand what the Lord wants them to do. They do not know his commands.
- Hosea 4:6The people do not know me. Because of that, they will come to an end. You refuse to respect my authority, so I will remove you as my priests. You refuse to obey the law of your God, so I will refuse to accept your children as my priests.
- John 7:15The Jewish leaders were very surprised. They asked, ‘How does this man know so much? He has not learned in our schools.’
Commentaries on Isaiah 29:12
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 12And the book is delivered - That is, they are just as ignorant of the true nature and meaning of the revelations of God as a man is of the contents of a book who is utterly unable to read.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 9-16Verses 9-16 The security of sinners in sinful ways, is cause for lamentation and wonder. The learned men, through prejudice, said that the Divine prophecies were obscure; and the poor urged their want of learning. The Bible is a sealed book to every man, learned or unlearned, till he begins to study it with a simple heart and a teachable spirit, that he may thence learn the truth and the will of God. To worship God, is to approach him. And if the heart be…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 8-12Jerusalem’s blindness kept its people from understanding God’s plan. Here, blindness does not mean physical blindness. It means spiritual blindness. The people could see with their eyes, but they did not understand what God was doing.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1212. The unlearned succeed no better than the learned, not from want of human learning, as they fancy, but from not having the teaching of God (Is 54:13; Jr 31:34; Joh 6:45; 1Co 2:7-10; 1Jo 2:20).Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 29:12
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Isaiah 29
- 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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