Isaiah 42:23

23 Will any of you listen to this? Will you listen carefully in the future?

Isaiah 42:23 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 42:23

Who among you will give ear to this?
&c.] To this prophecy of your destruction, and to what follows concerning it: who will hearken and hear for the time to come?
and receive instruction from hence, and repent and reform? none at all; so blind, and deaf, and stupid, were they both before, and at their destruction, and even ever since; they take no notice of the hand of God upon them, nor hearken to the rod, any more than to the word of God; which seems to be what is meant by "the time to come", or "hereafter"; and this will be their case till the veil is taken away, and then they shall see and hear, and turn to the Lord.

Isaiah 42:23 In-Context

21 The Lord made his teachings wonderful, because he is good.

22 These people have been defeated and robbed. They are trapped in pits or locked up in prison. Like robbers, enemies have taken them away, and there is no one to save them. Enemies carried them off, and no one said, "Bring them back."

23 Will any of you listen to this? Will you listen carefully in the future?

24 Who let the people of Jacob be carried off? The Lord allowed this to happen, because we sinned against him. We did not live the way he wanted us to live and did not obey his teaching.

25 So he became very angry with us and brought terrible wars against us. It was as if the people of Israel had fire all around them, but they didn't know what was happening. It was as if they were burning, but they didn't pay any attention.