Isaiah 6

Holy, Holy, Holy!

1-8 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Master sitting on a throne—high, exalted!—and the train of his robes filled the Temple. Angel-seraphs hovered above him, each with six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two their feet, and with two they flew. And they called back and forth one to the other,
Holy, Holy, Holy is God-of-the-Angel-Armies. His bright glory fills the whole earth. The foundations trembled at the sound of the angel voices, and then the whole house filled with smoke. I said,
"Doom! It's Doomsday! I'm as good as dead! Every word I've ever spoken is tainted— blasphemous even! And the people I live with talk the same way, using words that corrupt and desecrate. And here I've looked God in the face! The King! God-of-the-Angel-Armies!" Then one of the angel-seraphs flew to me. He held a live coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. He touched my mouth with the coal and said,
"Look. This coal has touched your lips. Gone your guilt, your sins wiped out." And then I heard the voice of the Master: "Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?" I spoke up, "I'll go. Send me!"

9-10 He said, "Go and tell this people:
"'Listen hard, but you aren't going to get it; look hard, but you won't catch on.' Make these people blockheads, with fingers in their ears and blindfolds on their eyes, So they won't see a thing, won't hear a word, So they won't have a clue about what's going on and, yes, so they won't turn around and be made whole."

11-13 Astonished, I said, "And Master, how long is this to go on?" He said, "Until the cities are emptied out, not a soul left in the cities— Houses empty of people, countryside empty of people. Until I, God, get rid of everyone, sending them off, the land totally empty. And even if some should survive, say a tenth, the devastation will start up again. The country will look like pine and oak forest with every tree cut down— Every tree a stump, a huge field of stumps. But there's a holy seed in those stumps."

Isaiah 6

Isaiah’s Commission

1 In the year of King Uzziah’s death,s I saw the sovereign mastert seated on a high, elevated throne. The hem of his robe filled the temple.2 Seraphst stood over him; each one had six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet,s and they used the remaining two to fly.3 They called out to one another, “Holy, holy, holyts is the Lord who commands armies!t His majestic splendor fills the entire earth!”

4 The sound of their voices shook the door frames,t and the temple was filled with smoke.
5 I said, “Too bad for me! I am destroyed,t for my lips are contaminated by sin,t and I live among people whose lips are contaminated by sin.t My eyes have seen the king, the Lord who commands armies.”t6 But then one of the seraphs flew toward me. In his hand was a hot coal he had taken from the altar with tongs.7 He touched my mouth with it and said, “Look, this coal has touched your lips. Your evil is removed; your sin is forgiven.”t8 I heard the voice of the sovereign master say, “Whom will I send? Who will go on our behalf?”t I answered, “Here I am, send me!”

9 He said, “Go and tell these people:
‘Listen continually, but don’t understand!
Look continually, but don’t perceive!’

10 Make the hearts of these people calloused;
make their ears deaf and their eyes blind!
Otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears,
their hearts might understand and they might repent and be healed.”s

11 I replied, “How long, sovereign master?” He said,
“Until cities are in ruins and unpopulated,
and houses are uninhabited,
and the land is ruined and devastated,

12 and the Lord has sent the people off to a distant place,
and the very heart of the land is completely abandoned.t

13 Even if only a tenth of the people remain in the land, it will again be destroyed,t like one of the large sacred treest or an Asherah pole, when a sacred pillar on a high place is thrown down.t That sacred pillar symbolizes the special chosen family.”t