Isaiah 6

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, 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

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