Isaiah 37:17
ESV
Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God.
NIV
Give ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see; listen to all the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God.
NASB
Incline Your ear, Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, Lord, and see; and listen to all the words of Sennacherib, who sent them to taunt the living God.
CSB
Listen closely, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see. Hear all the words that Sennacherib has sent to mock the living God.
NLT
Bend down, O Lord, and listen! Open your eyes, O Lord, and see! Listen to Sennacherib’s words of defiance against the living God.
KJV
Incline thine ear, O Lord, and hear; open thine eyes, O Lord, and see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach the living God.
NKJV
Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God.
What does Isaiah 37:17 mean?
The Bible often describes pagan idols as having eyes and ears without the ability to see or hear (Deuteronomy 4:8; Psalm 115:4–8; Habakkuk 2:18–19). Hezekiah will speak of these idols as not being gods, at all; they are made by people from wood and stone.Hezekiah knows that the Lord lives (Exodus 3:14–15). Hezekiah begins by asking God to hear and see the words Sennacherib has used to mock the living God. This implies an expected response. Hezekiah was at least somewhat offended that Sennacherib would talk about the Creator of the universe as if He were merely another one of the blind, deaf, mute hunks of wood worshiped by other nations the Assyrians conquered (Isaiah 36:18–20). Hezekiah wants the Lord to correct Sennacherib's false understanding about who the One True God.
