18 (A)Hear, you who are deaf!
And look, you who are blind, so that you may see.
19 Who is blind but My (B)servant,
Or so deaf as My (C)messenger whom I send?
Who is so blind as one who is [a](D)at peace with Me,
Or so blind as the servant of the Lord?
20 (E)You have seen many things, but you do not retain them;
Your ears are open, but no one hears.
21 The Lord was pleased for His righteousness’ sake
To make the Law (F)great and glorious.
22 But this is a people plundered and pillaged;
All of them are (G)trapped in [b]caves,
Or are (H)hidden away in prisons;
They have become plunder, with no one to save them,
And spoils with no one to say, “Give them back!”

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 42:19 Or the devoted one
  2. Isaiah 42:22 Or holes

Israel’s Failure to Listen and See

18 “Listen, you who are deaf!
    Look and see, you blind!
19 Who 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?
20 You see and recognize what is right
    but refuse to act on it.
You hear with your ears,
    but you don’t really listen.”

21 Because he is righteous,
    the Lord has exalted his glorious law.
22 But his own people have been robbed and plundered,
    enslaved, imprisoned, and trapped.
They are fair game for anyone
    and have no one to protect them,
    no one to take them back home.

Read full chapter