Isaiah 6

1 In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple.2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each one had six wings. With two he covered his face. With two he covered his feet. With two he flew.

3 One called to another, and said,

“Holy, holy, holy, is Yahweh of Armies!
The whole earth is full of his glory!”
4 The foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.

5 Then I said, “Woe is me! For I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for my eyes have seen the King, Yahweh of Armies!”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar.

7 He touched my mouth with it, and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away, and your sin forgiven.”

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

9 He said, “Go, and tell this people,

‘You hear indeed,
but don’t understand;
and you see indeed,
but don’t perceive.’
10 Make the heart of this people fat.
Make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes;
lest they see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears,
and understand with their heart,
and turn again, and be healed.”

11 Then I said, “Lord, how long?”
He answered,

“Until cities are waste without inhabitant,
and houses without man,
and the land becomes utterly waste,
12 And Yahweh has removed men far away,
and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.
13 If there is a tenth left in it,
that also will in turn be consumed:
as a terebinth, and as an oak, whose stock remains when they are felled;
so the holy seed is its stock.”

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