Isaiah 42:23

23 Who is there among you who will give ear to this? who will give attention to it for the time to come?

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 It was the Lord's pleasure, because of his righteousness, to make the teaching great and give it honour.

22 But this is a people whose property has been taken away from them by force; they are all taken in holes, and shut up in prisons: they are made prisoners, and no one makes them free; they are taken by force and no one says, Give them back.

23 Who is there among you who will give ear to this? who will give attention to it for the time to come?

24 Who gave up Jacob to those who took away his goods, and Israel to his attackers? Did not the Lord? he against whom they did wrong, and in whose ways they would not go, turning away from his teaching.

25 For this reason he let loose on him the heat of his wrath, and his strength was like a flame; and it put fire round about him, but he did not see it; he was burned, but did not take it to heart.