¹⁸ Such people^[a] do not comprehend
and cannot understand,
for He has shut their eyes^[b] so they cannot see,
and their minds so they cannot understand.
¹⁹ No one reflects,
no one has the perception or insight to say,
“I burned half of it in the fire,
I also baked bread on its coals,
I roasted meat and ate.
I will make something detestable^(A) with the rest of it,
and I will bow down to a block of wood.”

⁵ therefore I declared to you long ago.
I announced it to you before it occurred,
so you could not claim, ‘My idol caused them;
my carved image and cast idol control them.’^(A)
6 You have heard it. Observe it all.
Will you not acknowledge it?
From now on I will announce new things to you,
hidden things that you have not known.^(B)
7 They have been created now, and not long ago;
you have not heard of them before today,
so you could not claim, ‘I already knew them!’