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13 For this reason I speak to them in parables: Although they see they do not see, and although they hear they do not hear nor do they understand. 14 And concerning them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:

You will listen carefully[a] yet will never understand,
you will look closely[b] yet will never comprehend.
15 For the heart of this people has become dull;
they are hard of hearing,
and they have shut their eyes,
so that they would not see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.’[c]

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 13:14 tn Grk “with hearing,” a cognate dative that intensifies the action of the main verb “you will listen” (ExSyn 168-69).
  2. Matthew 13:14 tn Grk “look by looking.” The participle is redundant, functioning to intensify the force of the main verb.
  3. Matthew 13:15 sn A quotation from Isa 6:9-10. Thus parables both conceal or reveal depending on whether one is open to hearing what they teach.

13 This is why I speak to them in parables:

“Though seeing, they do not see;
    though hearing, they do not hear or understand.(A)

14 In them is fulfilled(B) the prophecy of Isaiah:

“‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
    you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
15 For this people’s heart has become calloused;
    they hardly hear with their ears,
    and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
    hear with their ears,
    understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.’[a](C)

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 13:15 Isaiah 6:9,10 (see Septuagint)