Isaiah’s Commission

6 In the year that King Uzziahg died,h I saw the Lord,i high and exalted,j seated on a throne;k and the train of his robel filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphim,m each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet,n and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another:

“Holy, holyo, holy is the Lord Almighty;p

the whole earthq is full of his glory.”r

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

5 “Woet to me!” I cried. “I am ruined!u For I am a man of unclean lips,v and I live among a people of unclean lips,w and my eyes have seenx the King,y the Lord Almighty.”z

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coala 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;b your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.c”

8 Then I heard the voiced of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send?e And who will go for us?f”

And I said, “Here am I.g Send me!”

9 He said, “Goh and tell this people:

“ ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding;

be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’i

10 Make the heart of this people calloused;j

make their ears dull

and close their eyes.a k

Otherwise they might see with their eyes,

hear with their ears,l

understand with their hearts,

and turn and be healed.”m

11 Then I said, “For how long, Lord?”n

And he answered:

“Until the cities lie ruinedo

and without inhabitant,

until the houses are left desertedp

and the fields ruined and ravaged,q

12 until the Lord has sent everyone far awayr

and the land is utterly forsaken.s

13 And though a tenth remainst in the land,

it will again be laid waste.u

But as the terebinth and oak

leave stumpsv when they are cut down,

so the holyw seed will be the stump in the land.”x