Isa 5:21, 29:10-14, 18-19, Mat 13:11-16, Mar 4:10-12, Joh 7:48-49 | ESV | STEP | Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes , and shrewd in their own sight !

Isaiah 5:21

21 Woe to those who are ^awise in their own eyes,
and shrewd in their own sight!

Isaiah 29:10-14

10 ^bFor the Lord has poured out upon you
a spirit of deep sleep,
and has closed your eyes (the prophets),
and covered your heads (the seers).
11 And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is ^csealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” 12 And when they give the book to one who cannot read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot read.”

13 And the Lord said:
“Because ^dthis people ^edraw near with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
while their hearts are far from me,
and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,
14 therefore, behold, ^fI will again
do wonderful things with this people,
with wonder upon wonder;
and ^gthe wisdom of their wise men shall perish,
and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.”

Isaiah 29:18-19

18 In that day ^hthe deaf shall hear
ⁱthe words of a book,
and out of their gloom and darkness
^jthe eyes of the blind shall see.
19 ^kThe meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord,
and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.

Matthew 13:11-16

11 And he answered them, ^l“To you it has been given to know ^mthe secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 ⁿFor to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, ^oeven what he has will be taken away. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables, because ^pseeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, ^qnor do they understand. 14 Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:

^r“‘“You will indeed hear but never understand,
and you will indeed see but never perceive.”
15 For this people’s heart has grown dull,
and with their ears ^sthey can barely hear,
and ^ttheir eyes they have closed,
lest they should see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and ^uunderstand with their heart
and ^vturn, and I would heal them.’
16 But ^wblessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.

Mark 4:10-12

The Purpose of the Parables

10 And ^xwhen he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. 11 And he said to them, ^y“To you has been given ^zthe secret of the kingdom of God, but for ^aathose outside everything is in parables, 12 ^abso that

“'they ^acmay indeed see but not perceive,
and may indeed hear but not understand,
lest they ^adshould turn and be forgiven.'”

John 7:48-49

48 ^aeHave any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? 49 But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.”