Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see.
Parallel translations
- WEB “Hear, you deaf, and look, you blind, that you may see.
- BSB Listen, you deaf ones; look, you blind ones, that you may see!
- NKJV “Hear, you deaf; And look, you blind, that you may see.
- NASB ¶Hear, you who are deaf! And look, you who are blind, so that you may see.
- NLT “Listen, you who are deaf! Look and see, you blind!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God summons the spiritually deaf and blind to hear and see. It is a call to His own people to wake up to the truth He is revealing.
Overview
The address shifts to Israel, whose physical senses work but whose hearts are dull. God commands them to truly perceive what He is saying and doing. This summons exposes the deeper problem of unbelief and prepares for the gospel's call to spiritual sight, which only God can grant.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Isa 43:8Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears.
- Mark 7:34–37And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened.
- Prov 20:12The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the LORD hath made even both of them.
- Isa 35:5Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
- Isa 29:18And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.
- Rev 3:17–18Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
- Luke 7:22Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached.
- Exod 4:11And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man’s mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 42:18 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.