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."

Then he said to me, "Make the minds of these people dull, their ears deaf, and their eyes blind, so that they cannot see or hear or understand. If they did, they might turn to me and be healed."

"Mortal man," he said, "you are living among rebellious people. They have eyes, but they see nothing; they have ears, but they hear nothing, because they are rebellious.

So the prophecy of Isaiah applies to them: 'This people will listen and listen, but not understand; they will look and look, but not see,

because their minds are dull, and they have stopped up their ears and have closed their eyes. Otherwise, their eyes would see, their ears would hear, their minds would understand, and they would turn to me, says God, and I would heal them.'

so that, 'They may look and look, yet not see; they may listen and listen, yet not understand. For if they did, they would turn to God, and he would forgive them.' "

and he answered, "The knowledge of the secrets of the Kingdom of God has been given to you, but to the rest it comes by means of parables, so that they may look but not see, and listen but not understand.

so that what the prophet Isaiah had said might come true: "Lord, who believed the message we told? To whom did the Lord reveal his power?"

"God has blinded their eyes and closed their minds, so that their eyes would not see, and their minds would not understand, and they would not turn to me, says God, for me to heal them."

As the scripture says, "God made their minds and hearts dull; to this very day they cannot see or hear."

May their eyes be blinded so that they cannot see; and make them bend under their troubles at all times."

But to this very day he has not let you understand what you have experienced.

"But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not obey me.

So I let them go their stubborn ways and do whatever they wanted.

The LORD has made you drowsy, ready to fall into a deep sleep. The prophets should be the eyes of the people, but God has blindfolded them.

So I will startle them with one unexpected blow after another. Those who are wise will turn out to be fools, and all their cleverness will be useless."

Is anyone more blind than my servant, more deaf than the messenger I send?

Israel, you have seen so much, but what has it meant to you? You have ears to hear with, but what have you really heard?"

So I will bring disaster upon them---the very things they are afraid of---because no one answered when I called or listened when I spoke. They chose to disobey me and do evil."

Pay attention, you foolish and stupid people, who have eyes, but cannot see, and have ears, but cannot hear.

If I sent you to great nations that spoke difficult languages you didn't understand, they would listen to you.

But none of the people of Israel will be willing to listen; they will not even listen to me. All of them are stubborn and defiant.

"Mortal man," he said, "you are living among rebellious people. They have eyes, but they see nothing; they have ears, but they hear nothing, because they are rebellious.

Jesus knew what they were saying, so he asked them, "Why are you discussing about not having any bread? Don't you know or understand yet? Are your minds so dull?

You have eyes---can't you see? You have ears---can't you hear? Don't you remember

Then Jesus said to them, "How foolish you are, how slow you are to believe everything the prophets said!

Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,

They do not believe, because their minds have been kept in the dark by the evil god of this world. He keeps them from seeing the light shining on them, the light that comes from the Good News about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.

The God who said, "Out of darkness the light shall shine!" is the same God who made his light shine in our hearts, to bring us the knowledge of God's glory shining in the face of Christ.