Isaiah 6

Isaiah's Commission

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.2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.

3 And they were calling to one another:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory.”

4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

5 “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”
6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar.

7 With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”
And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

9 He said, “Go and tell this people:
“ ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding;
be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’

10 Make the heart of this people calloused;
make their ears dull
and close their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”

11 Then I said, “For how long, O Lord?”
And he answered:
“Until the cities lie ruined
and without inhabitant,
until the houses are left deserted
and the fields ruined and ravaged,

12 until the Lord has sent everyone far away
and the land is utterly forsaken.

13 And though a tenth remains in the land,
it will again be laid waste.
But as the terebinth and oak
leave stumps when they are cut down,
so the holy seed will be the stump in the land.”

ISAIAH 6

A Vision of the [Lord] //in the Temple

1  t In the year that King Uzziah died, t I had a vision of the [Lord]. He was on his throne high above, and his robe filled the temple. 2 Flaming creatures with six wings each were flying over him. They covered their faces with two of their wings and their bodies with two more. They used the other two wings for flying,

3 t as they shouted,
“Holy, holy, holy,
[Lord] All-Powerful!
The earth is filled
with your glory.”
4  t As they shouted, the doorposts of the temple shook, and the temple was filled with smoke.

5 Then I cried out, “I'm doomed! Everything I say is sinful, and so are the words of everyone around me. Yet I have seen the King, the [Lord] All-Powerful.”
6 One of the flaming creatures flew over to me with a burning coal that it had taken from the altar with a pair of metal tongs.

7 It touched my lips with the hot coal and said, “This has touched your lips. Your sins are forgiven, and you are no longer guilty.”

8 After this, I heard the [Lord] ask, “Is there anyone I can send? Will someone speak for us?”
“I'll go,” I answered. “Send me!”

9  t Then the [Lord] told me to go and speak this message to the people:
“You will listen and listen,
but never understand.
You will look and look,
but never see.”
The [Lord] also said,

10 “Make these people stubborn!
Make them stop up
their ears,
cover their eyes,
and fail to understand.
Don't let them turn to me
and be healed.”

11 Then I asked the [Lord], “How long will this last?”
The [Lord] answered:
Until their towns are destroyed and their houses are deserted, until their fields are empty, 12 and I have sent them far away, leaving their land in ruins. 13 If only a tenth of the people are left, even they will be destroyed. But just as stumps remain after trees have been cut down, t some of my chosen ones will be left.