Bible verse

Isaiah 29:12

Or if the scroll is handed to one unable to read, he will say, “I cannot read.”

Isaiah 29:12 · BSB

Isaiah 29:12 in context

The verses around it, from Isaiah 29.

8 as when a hungry man dreams he is eating, then awakens still hungry; as when a thirsty man dreams he is drinking, then awakens faint and parched. So will it be for all the many nations who go to battle against Mount Zion.

9 Stop and be astonished; blind yourselves and be sightless; be drunk, but not with wine; stagger, but not from strong drink.

10 For the LORD has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep. He has shut your eyes, O prophets; He has covered your heads, O seers.

11 And the entire vision will be to you like the words sealed in a scroll. If it is handed to someone to read, he will say, “I cannot, because it is sealed.”

12 Or if the scroll is handed to one unable to read, he will say, “I cannot read.”

13 Therefore the Lord said: “These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is but rules taught by men.

14 Therefore I will again confound these people with wonder upon wonder. The wisdom of the wise will vanish, and the intelligence of the intelligent will be hidden.”

15 Woe to those who dig deep to hide their plans from the LORD. In darkness they do their works and say, “Who sees us, and who will know?”

16 You have turned things upside down, as if the potter were regarded as clay. Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, “He did not make me”? Can the pottery say of the potter, “He has no understanding”?

Read all of Isaiah 29

Isaiah 29:12 in other translations

KJV

And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.

ASV

and the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee; and he saith, I am not learned.

ERV

and the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.

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Scripture quotations are from the Berean Standard Bible, which is free of copyright restrictions for use on websites. Read the full Bible on Great Faith.