New English Translation
Isaiah 6:9
9He said, “Go and tell these people: ‘Listen continually, but don’t understand! Look continually, but don’t 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, “Look, this coal has touched your lips. Your evil is removed; your sin is forgiven.” 8I heard the voice of the sovereign master say, “Whom will I send? Who will go on our behalf?” I answered, “Here I am, send me!” He said, “Go and tell these people: ‘Listen continually, but don’t understand! Look continually, but don’t perceive!’ 10Make the hearts of these people calloused; make their ears deaf and their eyes blind! Otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears, their hearts might understand and they might repent and be healed.” 11I replied, “How long, sovereign master?” He said, “Until cities are in ruins and unpopulated, and houses are uninhabited, and the land is ruined and devastated,
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 sovereign master says, “These people say they are loyal to me; they say wonderful things about me, but they are not really loyal to me. Their worship consists of nothing but man-made ritual.
- Isaiah 30:8Now go, write it down on a tablet in their presence, inscribe it on a scroll, so that it might be preserved for a future time as an enduring witness.
- Exodus 32:7The Lord spoke to Moses: “Go quickly, descend, because your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have acted corruptly.
- Jeremiah 15:1Then the Lord said to me, “Even if Moses and Samuel stood before me pleading for these people, I would not feel pity for them! Get them away from me! Tell them to go away!
- Hosea 1:9Then the Lord said: “Name him ‘Not My People’ (Lo-Ammi), because you are not my people and I am not your God.”
- Isaiah 43:8Bring out the people who are blind, even though they have eyes, those who are deaf, even though they have ears!
- Isaiah 44:18They do not comprehend or understand, for their eyes are blind and cannot see; their minds do not discern.
- Matthew 13:14And concerning them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: ‘You will listen carefully yet will never understand, you will look closely yet will never comprehend.
- Mark 4:12so that although they look they may look but not see, and although they hear they may hear but not understand, so they may not repent and be forgiven.”
- Luke 8:10He said, “You have been given the opportunity to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that although they see they may not see, and although they hear they may not understand.
- John 12:40“He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, so that they would not see with their eyes and understand with their heart, and turn to me, and I would heal them.”
- Acts 28:26when he said, ‘Go to this people and say, “You will keep on hearing, but will never understand, and you will keep on looking, but will never perceive.
- Romans 11:8as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, to this very 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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