²¹ Give ear now to this, O foolish people without sense; who have eyes but see nothing, and ears without the power of hearing:

²⁶ Go to this people and say, Though you give ear, you will not get knowledge; and seeing, you will see, but the sense will not be clear to you:

² Son of man, you are living among an uncontrolled people, who have eyes to see but see not, and ears for hearing but they do not give ear; for they are an uncontrolled people.

⁹ And he said, Go, and say to this people, You will go on hearing, but learning nothing; you will go on seeing, but without getting wiser.

¹⁰ Make the hearts of this people fat, and let their ears be stopped, and their eyes shut; for fear that they may see with their eyes, and be hearing with their ears, and their heart may become wise, and they may be turned to me and made well.

⁸ As it was said in the holy Writings, God gave them a spirit of sleep, eyes which might not see, and ears which have no hearing, to this day.

⁴⁰ He has made their eyes blind, and their hearts hard; for fear that they might see with their eyes and get knowledge with their hearts, and be changed, and I might make them well.

¹⁸ Having eyes, do you not see? and having ears, have you no hearing? and have you no memory?

¹³ For this reason I put things into the form of stories; because they see without seeing, and give ear without hearing, and the sense is not clear to them.

¹⁴ And for them the words of Isaiah have come true, Though you give ear, you will not get knowledge; and seeing, you will see, but the sense will not be clear to you:

¹⁵ For the heart of this people has become fat and their ears are slow in hearing and their eyes are shut; for fear that they might see with their eyes and give hearing with their ears and become wise in their hearts and be turned again to me, so that I might make them well.

⁷ Truly, the stork in the heavens is conscious of her fixed times; the dove and the swallow and the crane keep to the times of their coming; but my people have no knowledge of the law of the Lord.

⁴ Then I said, But these are the poor: they are foolish, for they have no knowledge of the way of the Lord or of the behaviour desired by their God.

²² For my people are foolish, they have no knowledge of me; they are evil-minded children, without sense, all of them: they are wise in evil-doing, but have no knowledge of doing good.

¹⁸ They have no knowledge or wisdom; for he has put a veil over their eyes, so that they may not see; and on their hearts, so that they may not give attention.

⁸ Give your mind to my words, you who are without wisdom among the people; you foolish men, when will you be wise?

⁶ Is this your answer to the Lord, O foolish people and unwise? Is he not your father who has given you life? He has made you and given you your place.

¹¹ And Ephraim is like a foolish dove, without wisdom; they send out their cry to Egypt, they go to Assyria.

⁸ But they are together like beasts and foolish: the teaching of false gods is wood.

¹¹ When its branches are dry they will be broken off; the women will come and put fire to them: for it is a foolish people; for this cause he who made them will have no mercy on them, and he whose work they are will not have pity on them.

¹⁶ How will money in the hand of the foolish get him wisdom, seeing that he has no sense?

⁴ But even to this day the Lord has not given you a mind open to knowledge, or seeing eyes or hearing ears.