We are like people without eyes. We walk into walls like blind people. We stumble and fall as if it was night. Even in the daylight, we cannot see. At noontime, we fall like dead men.
In daylight you will have to feel your way like a blind man. You will fail in everything you do. Again and again people will hurt you and steal from you. And there will be no one to save you.
But whoever hates their brother or sister is in darkness. They live in darkness. They don’t know where they are going, because the darkness has made them blind.
“God made the people blind. He closed their minds. He did this so that they would not see with their eyes and understand with their minds. He did it so that they would not turn and be healed.” Isaiah 6:10
Then Jesus said, “The light will be with you for only a short time more. So walk while you have the light. Then the darkness will not catch you. People who walk in the darkness don’t know where they are going.
The prophets and priests walked around like blind men in the streets. They had become dirty with blood. No one could even touch their clothes because they were dirty.
Honor the Lord your God. Praise him or he will bring darkness. Praise him before you fall on the dark hills. You people of Judah are hoping for light, but the Lord will turn the light into thick darkness. He will change it into the deepest gloom.
If you people would respect him, he would be a safe place for you. But you don’t respect him, so he is like a stone that you stumble over. He is a rock that makes both families of Israel fall. He has become a trap that all the people of Jerusalem will fall into.
So the Lord’s words will be senseless sounds to them: “Saw lasaw saw lasaw. Qaw laqaw qaw laqaw. Ze’er sham ze’er sham.” When the people try to walk, they will fall backwards. They will be defeated, trapped, and captured.
Their hearts will melt with fear, and many people will fall. The sword will kill many people by the city gates. Yes, the sword will flash like lightning. It was polished to kill the people!
“This is why it is like night for you and you don’t have visions. You cannot see what will happen in the future, so it is like darkness to you. The sun has gone down on the prophets. They cannot see what will happen in the future, so it is like darkness to them.