Who among you will give ear to this? who will hearken and hear for the time to come?
Parallel translations
- WEB Who is there among you who will give ear to this? Who will listen and hear for the time to come?
- BSB Who among you will pay attention to this? Who will listen and obey hereafter?
- NKJV Who among you will give ear to this? Who will listen and hear for the time to come?
- NASB ¶Who among you will listen to this? Who will pay attention and listen in the time to come?
- NLT Who will hear these lessons from the past and see the ruin that awaits you in the future?
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 asks who among His people will finally listen and take heed for the future. It is an appeal for genuine attention before further judgment falls.
Overview
The rhetorical question presses the hearers to learn from their plight and turn to God. True wisdom lies in heeding the LORD's word about what is to come. This invitation to listen looks forward to the gospel call to hear and believe Christ, in whom the future is secure.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Acts 3:22–23For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.
- Isa 48:18O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea:
- Jer 3:4–7Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art the guide of my youth?
- Deut 4:29–31But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.
- Deut 32:29O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!
- Prov 1:22–23How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?
- Isa 1:18–20Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
- Mic 6:9The LORD’s voice crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see thy name: hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it.
- Acts 3:19Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
- Matt 21:28–31But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard.
- Lev 26:40–42If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me;
- 1 Pet 4:2–3That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.
- Jer 3:13Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith 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 42:23 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.