Isaiah 42:18-25

New International Version

Israel Blind and Deaf

¹⁸“Hear, you deaf;^(A)
    look, you blind, and see!
¹⁹Who is blind^(B) but my servant,^(C)
    and deaf like the messenger^(D) I send?
Who is blind like the one in covenant^(E) with me,
    blind like the servant of the Lord?
²⁰You have seen many things, but you pay no attention;
    your ears are open, but you do not listen.”^(F)
²¹It pleased the Lord
    for the sake^(G) of his righteousness
    to make his law^(H) great and glorious.
²²But this is a people plundered^(I) and looted,
    all of them trapped in pits^(J)
    or hidden away in prisons.^(K)
They have become plunder,
    with no one to rescue them;^(L)
they have been made loot,
    with no one to say, “Send them back.”

²³Which of you will listen to this
    or pay close attention^(M) in time to come?
²⁴Who handed Jacob over to become loot,
    and Israel to the plunderers?^(N)
Was it not the Lord,^(O)
    against whom we have sinned?
For they would not follow^(P) his ways;
    they did not obey his law.^(Q)
²⁵So he poured out on them his burning anger,^(R)
    the violence of war.
It enveloped them in flames,^(S) yet they did not understand;^(T)
    it consumed them, but they did not take it to heart.^(U)

Read full chapter

Isaiah 43:22-28

New International Version

²²“Yet you have not called on me, Jacob,
    you have not wearied^(A) yourselves for^[a] me, Israel.^(B)
²³You have not brought me sheep for burnt offerings,^(C)
    nor honored^(D) me with your sacrifices.^(E)
I have not burdened^(F) you with grain offerings
    nor wearied you with demands^(G) for incense.^(H)
²⁴You have not bought any fragrant calamus^(I) for me,
    or lavished on me the fat^(J) of your sacrifices.
But you have burdened me with your sins
    and wearied^(K) me with your offenses.^(L)

²⁵“I, even I, am he who blots out
    your transgressions,^(M) for my own sake,^(N)
    and remembers your sins^(O) no more.^(P)
²⁶Review the past for me,
    let us argue the matter together;^(Q)
    state the case^(R) for your innocence.
²⁷Your first father^(S) sinned;
    those I sent to teach^(T) you rebelled^(U) against me.
²⁸So I disgraced the dignitaries of your temple;
    I consigned Jacob to destruction^[b]^(V)
    and Israel to scorn.^(W)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

Isaiah 43:22 Or Jacob; / surely you have grown weary of
Isaiah 43:28 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.