¹³ That is why I use these parables,

² “Son of man, you live among rebels who have eyes but refuse to see. They have ears but refuse to hear. For they are a rebellious people.

³ If the Good News we preach is hidden behind a veil, it is hidden only from people who are perishing. ⁴ Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.

Israel’s Failure to Listen and See

¹⁹ And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. ²⁰ All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed.

¹⁶ “But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear.

³ all the great tests of strength, the miraculous signs, and the amazing wonders. ⁴ But to this day the Lord has not given you minds that understand, nor eyes that see, nor ears that hear!

³⁹ Then Jesus told him,^[a] “I entered this world to render judgment—to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see^[b] that they are blind.”

⁴⁰ Some Pharisees who were standing nearby heard him and asked, “Are you saying we’re blind?”

⁴¹ “If you were blind, you wouldn’t be guilty,” Jesus replied. “But you remain guilty because you claim you can see.