New Living Translation
Isaiah 42:18
18“Listen, you who are deaf! Look and see, you blind!
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 blind Israel down a new path, guiding them along an unfamiliar way. I will brighten the darkness before them and smooth out the road ahead of them. Yes, I will indeed do these things; I will not forsake them. 17But those who trust in idols, who say, ‘You are our gods,’ will be turned away in shame. “Listen, you who are deaf! Look and see, you blind! 19Who is as blind as my own people, my servant? Who is as deaf as my messenger? Who is as blind as my chosen people, the servant of the Lord? 20You see and recognize what is right but refuse to act on it. You hear with your ears, but you don’t really listen.”
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 29:18In that day the deaf will hear words read from a book, and the blind will see through the gloom and darkness.
- Isaiah 43:8Bring out the people who have eyes but are blind, who have ears but are deaf.
- Exodus 4:11Then the Lord asked Moses, “Who makes a person’s mouth? Who decides whether people speak or do not speak, hear or do not hear, see or do not see? Is it not I, the Lord?
- Proverbs 20:12Ears to hear and eyes to see— both are gifts from the Lord.
- Mark 7:34Looking up to heaven, he sighed and said, “Ephphatha,” which means, “Be opened!”
- Luke 7:22Then he told John’s disciples, “Go back to John and tell him what you have seen and heard—the blind see, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.”
- Revelation 3:17You say, ‘I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and 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
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