God’s Word Translation
Isaiah 42:18
18Listen, you deaf people. Look, you blind people, so that you can see.
Isaiah 42:18 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see.
- New International Version (NIV)“Hear, you deaf; look, you blind, and see!
- English Standard Version (ESV)Hear, you deaf, and look, you blind, that you may see!
- New King James Version (NKJV)“Hear, you deaf; And look, you blind, that you may see.
Context of Isaiah 42:18
16I will lead the blind on unfamiliar roads. I will lead them on unfamiliar paths. I will turn darkness into light in front of them. I will make rough places smooth. These are the things I will do for them, and I will never abandon them. 17Then those who trust idols and those who say to statues, “You are our gods” will be turned away and put to shame. Listen, you deaf people. Look, you blind people, so that you can see. 19Who is blind except my servant or deaf like the messenger I send? Who is blind like the one who has my trust or blind like the servant of the Lord? 20You have seen much, but you do not observe anything. Your ears are open, but you hear nothing.
Read all of Isaiah 42Isaiah 42:18 word by word
הַחֵרְשִׁ֖ים שְׁמָ֑עוּ וְהַעִוְרִ֖ים הַבִּ֥יטוּ לִרְאֽוֹת׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Isaiah 42:18
- Isaiah 29:18When that day comes, the deaf will hear the words written in the book. The blind will see out of their gloom and darkness.
- Isaiah 43:8Bring the people who are blind but still have eyes, the people who are deaf but still have ears.
- Exodus 4:11The Lord asked him, “Who gave humans their mouths? Who makes humans unable to talk or hear? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? It is I, the Lord!
- Proverbs 20:12The ear that hears, the eye that sees— the Lord made them both.
- Mark 7:34Then he looked up to heaven, sighed, and said to the man, “Ephphatha!” which means, “Be opened!”
- Luke 7:22Jesus answered John’s disciples, “Go back, and tell John what you have seen and heard: Blind people see again, lame people are walking, those with skin diseases are made clean, deaf people hear again, dead people are brought back to life, and poor people hear the Good News.
- Revelation 3:17You say, ‘I’m rich. I’m wealthy. I don’t need anything.’ Yet, you do not realize that you are miserable, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.
Commentaries on Isaiah 42:18
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 18Hear, ye deaf - This is evidently an address to the Jews, and probably to the Jews of the time of the prophet. He had been predicting the coming of the Messiah, and the influence of his religion on the Gentile world. He had said that God would go forth to destroy the idolatry of the pagan nations, and to convince them of the folly of the worship of images, and to confound them for putting their trust in them. He seems here to have recollected that this…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 18-25Verses 18-25 Observe the call given to this people, and the character given of them. Multitudes are ruined for want of observing that which they cannot but see; they perish, not through ignorance, but carelessness. The Lord is well-pleased in the making known his own righteousness. For their sins they were spoiled of all their possessions. This fully came to pass in the destruction of the Jewish nation. There is no resisting, nor escaping God's anger. See…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 18-20The Israelites who ignored God's words and actions became spiritually blind and deaf (see Isaiah 6:9–10). They knew the truth from God's word and the prophets, but their closed minds refused to respond.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1818. deaf--namely, to the voice of God. blind--to your duty and interest; wilfully so (Is 42:20). In this they differ from "the blind" (Is 42:16). The Jews are referred to. He had said, God would destroy the heathen idolatry; here he remembers that even Israel, His "servant" (Is 42:19), from whom better things might have been expected, is tainted with this sin.Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 42:18
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Isaiah 42
- 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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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