¹ In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted; and the train of His robe filled the temple. ²Above Him stood seraphim, each having six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. ³And they were calling out to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts; all the earth is full of His glory.” ⁴At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook, and the temple was filled with smoke. ⁵Then I said: “Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips dwelling among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Hosts.” ⁶Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a glowing coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. ⁷And with it he touched my mouth and said: “Now that this has touched your lips, your iniquity is removed and your sin is atoned for.” ⁸Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying: “Whom shall I send? Who will go for Us?” And I said: “Here am I. Send me!” ⁹And He replied: “Go and tell this people, ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ ¹⁰Make the hearts of this people calloused; deafen their ears and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

¹⁶I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, ¹⁷that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in your knowledge of Him. ¹⁸I ask that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know the hope of His calling, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, ¹⁹and the surpassing greatness of His power to us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of His mighty strength, ²⁰which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms, ²¹far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. ²²And God put everything under His feet and made Him head over everything for the church, ²³which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

¹⁰ Then the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Why do You speak to the people in parables?” ¹¹He replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. ¹²Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. ¹³This is why I speak to them in parables: ‘Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.’ ¹⁴In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled: ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. ¹⁵For this people’s heart has grown callous; 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.’ ¹⁶But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.

²³So they set a day to meet with Paul, and many people came to the place he was staying. He expounded to them from morning to evening, testifying about the kingdom of God and persuading them about Jesus from the Law of Moses and the Prophets. ²⁴Some of them were convinced by what he said, but others refused to believe. ²⁵They disagreed among themselves and began to leave after Paul had made this final statement: “The Holy Spirit was right when He spoke to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet: ²⁶‘Go to this people and say, “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.” ²⁷For this people’s heart has grown callous; 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.’ ²⁸Be advised, therefore, that God’s salvation has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen!” ^{29 30}Paul stayed there two full years in his own rented house, welcoming all who came to visit him. ³¹Boldly and freely he proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.