Isaiah 42:18-25

New Century Version

Israel Refused to Listen to the Lord

¹⁸“You who are deaf, hear me.
    You who are blind, look and see.
¹⁹No one is more blind than my servant Israel
    or more deaf than the messenger I send.
No one is more blind than the person I own
    or more blind than the servant of the Lord.
²⁰Israel, you have seen much, but you have not obeyed.
    You hear, but you refuse to listen.”
²¹The Lord made his teachings wonderful,
    because he is good.
²²These people have been defeated and robbed.
    They are trapped in pits
    or locked up in prison.
Like robbers, enemies have taken them away,
    and there is no one to save them.
Enemies carried them off,
    and no one said, “Bring them back.”

²³Will any of you listen to this?
    Will you listen carefully in the future?
²⁴Who let the people of Jacob be carried off?
    Who let robbers take Israel away?
The Lord allowed this to happen,
    because we sinned against him.
We did not live the way he wanted us to live
    and did not obey his teaching.
²⁵So he became very angry with us
    and brought terrible wars against us.
It was as if the people of Israel had fire all around them,
    but they didn’t know what was happening.
It was as if they were burning,
    but they didn’t pay any attention.