Isaiah 6:9

Easy-to-Read Version

Then the Lord said, "Go and tell the people, ‘Listen closely, but don't understand. Look closely, but don't learn.'

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
And he replied:

Hebrew Names Version
He said, "Go, and tell this people, 'You hear indeed, but don't understand; and you see indeed, but don't perceive.'

King James Version
And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.

English Standard Version
And he said, "Go, and say to this people: "‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.'

New American Standard Bible
And He said, "Go, and tell this people: 'Keep on listening, but do not understand; And keep on looking, but do not gain knowledge.'

New Century Version
Then the Lord said, "Go and tell this to the people: ‘You will listen and listen, but you will not understand. You will look and look, but you will not learn.'

Amplified Bible
And He said, "Go, and tell this people: 'Keep on listening, but do not understand; Keep on looking, but do not comprehend.'

World English Bible
He said, "Go, and tell this people, 'You hear indeed, but don't understand; and you see indeed, but don't perceive.'

Geneva Bible (1587)
And he sayd, Goe, and say vnto this people, Ye shall heare in deede, but ye shall not vnderstand: ye shall plainely see, and not perceiue.

Legacy Standard Bible
He said, "Go, and tell this people:‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;Keep on seeing, but do not know.'

Berean Standard Bible
And He replied, "Go and tell this people: 'Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.'

Contemporary English Version
Then the Lord told me to go and speak this message to the people: "You will listen and listen, but never understand. You will look and look, but never see." The Lord also said,

Complete Jewish Bible
He said, "Go and tell this people: ‘Yes, you hear, but you don't understand. You certainly see, but you don't get the point!'

Darby Translation
And he said, Go; and thou shalt say unto this people, Hearing ye shall hear and shall not understand, and seeing ye shall see and shall not perceive.

George Lamsa Translation
And he said to me, Go, and tell this people, You can hear indeed, but understand not; and you can see indeed, but do not perceive.

Good News Translation
So he told me to go and give the people this message: "No matter how much you listen, you will not understand. No matter how much you look, you will not know what is happening."

Lexham English Bible
And he said, "Go and say to this people, ‘Keep on listening and do not comprehend! And keep on looking and do not understand!'

Literal Translation
And He said, Go and say to this people, Hearing you hear, but do not understand; and seeing you see, but do not know.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And so he sayde: go, and tel this people: ye shall heare in dede, but ye shal not vnderstonde, ye shal planely se, and not perceaue.

American Standard Version
And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.

Bible in Basic English
And he said, Go, and say to this people, You will go on hearing, but learning nothing; you will go on seeing, but without getting wiser.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And He said: 'Go, and tell this people: hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.

King James Version (1611)
And he sayd, Goe and tell this people; Heare yee indeede, but vnderstand not: and see yee indeed, but perceiue not.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And he sayd, Go and tell this people: Heare in deede, yet vnderstande not, ye shall playnely see, and yet perceaue not.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Ye shall hear indeed, but ye shall not understand; and ye shall see indeed, but ye shall not perceive.

English Revised Version
And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And he seide, Go thou, and thou schalt seie to this puple, Ye herynge here, and nyle ye vndurstonde; and se ye the profesie, and nyle ye knowe.

Update Bible Version
And he said, Go, and tell this people, You indeed hear, but don't understand; and you indeed see, but don't perceive.

Webster's Bible Translation
And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.

New English Translation
He said, "Go and tell these people: ‘Listen continually, but don't understand! Look continually, but don't perceive!'

New King James Version
And He said, "Go, and tell this people: "Keep on hearing, but do not understand; Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.'

New Living Translation
And he said, "Yes, go, and say to this people, ‘Listen carefully, but do not understand. Watch closely, but learn nothing.'

New Life Bible
He said, "Go, and tell these people, ‘You hear and hear but do not understand. You look and look but do not see.'

New Revised Standard
And he said, "Go and say to this people: ‘Keep listening, but do not comprehend; keep looking, but do not understand.'

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then said be - Go and say unto this people, - Hear on but do not discern, See on but do not perceive:

Douay-Rheims Bible
And he said: Go, and thou shalt say to this people: Hearing, hear, and understand not: and see the vision, and know it not.

Revised Standard Version
And he said, "Go, and say to this people: 'Hear and hear, but do not understand; see and see, but do not perceive.'

Young's Literal Translation
And He saith, `Go, and thou hast said to this people, Hear ye -- to hear, and ye do not understand, And see ye -- to see, and ye do not know.

THE MESSAGE
He said, "Go and tell this people: "‘Listen hard, but you aren't going to get it; look hard, but you won't catch on.' Make these people blockheads, with fingers in their ears and blindfolds on their eyes, So they won't see a thing, won't hear a word, So they won't have a clue about what's going on and, yes, so they won't turn around and be made whole."

New American Standard Bible (1995)
He said, "Go, and tell this people: 'Keep on listening, but do not perceive; Keep on looking, but do not understand.'

Contextual Overview

⁹ Then the Lord said, "Go and tell the people, ‘Listen closely, but don't understand. Look closely, but don't learn.' ¹⁰ Confuse them. Make them unable to understand what they hear and see. If you don't do this, they might really look with their eyes, hear with their ears, and understand with their minds. Then they might come back to me and be healed!" ¹¹ Then I asked, "Lord, how long should I do this?" He answered, "Do this until the cities are destroyed and all the people are gone. Do this until there is no one left living in the houses and the land is destroyed and empty." ¹² The Lord will make the people go far away, and there will be large areas of empty land in the country. ¹³ A tenth of the people will be allowed to stay in the land, but it will be destroyed again. They will be like an oak tree. When the tree is chopped down, a stump is left. This stump will be a very special seed that will grow again.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Go: Isaiah 29:13, Isaiah 30:8-11, Exodus 32:7-10, Jeremiah 15:1, Jeremiah 15:2, Hosea 1:9

Hear ye: Isaiah 43:8, Isaiah 44:18-20, Matthew 13:14, Matthew 13:15, Mark 4:12, Luke 8:10, John 12:40, Acts 28:26, Acts 28:27, Romans 11:8

indeed: or, without ceasing, Heb. in hearing

indeed: Heb. in seeing.

Reciprocal: Exodus 10:20 - General Deuteronomy 28:28 - General Deuteronomy 29:4 - General Joshua 11:20 - it was 1 Kings 22:23 - the Lord 2 Chronicles 18:19 - Who shall entice Job 12:24 - He taketh Job 33:14 - perceiveth Psalms 69:23 - Their eyes Psalms 119:144 - understanding Isaiah 28:13 - that Isaiah 29:10 - the Lord Isaiah 29:14 - for the wisdom Isaiah 42:19 - Who is blind Isaiah 48:8 - thou heardest Jeremiah 4:22 - For my Jeremiah 5:21 - O foolish Jeremiah 6:10 - their ear Jeremiah 7:27 - hearken Jeremiah 28:8 - prophesied Ezekiel 12:2 - which Zechariah 11:17 - the sword Matthew 15:10 - Hear Mark 3:5 - hardness Mark 7:14 - and understand Mark 8:18 - see Mark 11:33 - We Luke 19:42 - but Luke 20:7 - that John 8:27 - General John 8:43 - ye cannot John 9:39 - might be John 10:6 - they understood not John 12:39 - because John 12:41 - when 2 Corinthians 7:9 - that ye 2 Thessalonians 2:11 - God

Cross-References

Genesis 2:4
This is the story about the creation of the sky and the earth. This is what happened when the Lord God made the earth and the sky.

Genesis 5:1
This is the history of Adam's family. When God created people, he made them like himself.

Genesis 5:22
After Methuselah was born, Enoch walked with God for 300 years and had other sons and daughters.

Genesis 5:24
One day Enoch was walking with God, and he disappeared. God took him.

Genesis 6:9
This is the history of Noah's family. He was a good man all his life, and he always followed God.

Genesis 6:15
"This is the size I want you to make the boat: 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high.

Genesis 7:1
Then the Lord said to Noah, "I have seen that you are a good man, even among the evil people of this time. So gather your family, and all of you go into the boat.

Genesis 10:1
This is the history of the families of Shem, Ham, and Japheth. They are Noah's sons. These men had children after the flood.

Genesis 17:1
When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him. He said, "I am God All-Powerful. Obey me and live the right way.

Genesis 48:15
And Israel blessed Joseph and said, "My ancestors, Abraham and Isaac, worshiped our God, and that God has led me all my life.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And he said, go, and tell this people,.... What is and will be their case and condition, as follows:

hear ye indeed; the words of the prophets sent unto them, yea, Christ himself incarnate preaching among them; the great Prophet Moses said should be raised up unto them:

but understand not; neither that he is the Messiah, nor the doctrines delivered by him; which were spoken to them in parables; see

Matthew 13:13:

and see ye indeed: the miracles wrought by him, as raising the dead, cleansing the lepers, restoring sight to the blind, causing the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak:

but perceive not; that he is the Messiah, though all the characteristics pointed at in prophecy are upon him, and such miracles are done by him.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And he said ... - The expressions which follow are those which denote hardness of heart and blindness of mind. They would hear the words of the prophet, but they would not understand him. They were so obstinately bent on iniquity that they would neither believe nor regard him. This shows the spirit with which ministers must deliver the message of God. It is their business to deliver the message, though they should know that it will neither be understood nor believed.

Hear ye indeed - Hebrew ‘In hearing, hear.’ This is a mode of expressing emphasis. This passage is quoted in Matthew 13:14; see thenote at that place.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Isaiah 6:9. And he said — לי li, to me, two MSS. and the Syriac. Thirteen MSS. have ראה raah, in the regular form.