Isaiah Called to Be a Prophet

6 In the year that aKing Uzziah died, I bsaw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. 2 Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, cwith two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one cried to another and said:

d“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;

eThe whole earth is full of His glory!”

4 And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.

5 So I said:

“Woe is me, for I am 1undone!

Because I am a man of funclean lips,

And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips;

For my eyes have seen the King,

The Lord of hosts.”

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from gthe altar. 7 And he htouched my mouth with it, and said:

“Behold, this has touched your lips;

Your iniquity is taken away,

And your sin 2purged.”

8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying:

“Whom shall I send,

And who will go for iUs?”

Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”

9 And He said, “Go, and jtell this people:

‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;

Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’

10 “Make kthe heart of this people dull,

And their ears heavy,

And shut their eyes;

lLest they see with their eyes,

And hear with their ears,

And understand with their heart,

And return and be healed.”

11 Then I said, “Lord, how long?”

And He answered:

m“Until the cities are laid waste and without inhabitant,

The houses are without a man,

The land is utterly desolate,

12 nThe Lord has removed men far away,

And the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.

13 But yet a tenth will be in it,

And will return and be for consuming,

As a terebinth tree or as an oak,

Whose stump remains when it is cut down.

So othe holy seed shall be its stump.”

Ezekiel’s Vision of God

1 Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by athe River Chebar, that bthe heavens were opened and I saw cvisions 1of God. 2 On the fifth day of the month, which was in the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity, 3 the word of the Lord came expressly to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the 2Chaldeans by the River Chebar; and dthe hand of the Lord was upon him there.

4 Then I looked, and behold, ea whirlwind was coming fout of the north, a great cloud with raging fire engulfing itself; and brightness was all around it and radiating out of its midst like the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire. 5 gAlso from within it came the likeness of four living creatures. And hthis was their appearance: they had ithe likeness of a man. 6 Each one had four faces, and each one had four wings. 7 Their 3legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the soles of calves’ feet. They sparkled jlike the color of burnished bronze. 8 kThe hands of a man were under their wings on their four sides; and each of the four had faces and wings. 9 Their wings touched one another. The creatures did not turn when they went, but each one went straight lforward.

10 As for mthe likeness of their faces, each nhad the face of a man; each of the four had othe face of a lion on the right side, peach of the four had the face of an ox on the left side, qand each of the four had the face of an eagle. 11 Thus were their faces. Their wings stretched upward; two wings of each one touched one another, and rtwo covered their bodies. 12 And seach one went straight forward; they went wherever the spirit wanted to go, and they did not turn when they went.

13 As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, tlike the appearance of torches going back and forth among the living creatures. The fire was bright, and out of the fire went lightning. 14 And the living creatures ran back and forth, uin appearance like a flash of lightning.

15 Now as I looked at the living creatures, behold, va wheel was on the earth beside each living creature with its four faces. 16 wThe appearance of the wheels and their workings was xlike the color of beryl, and all four had the same likeness. The appearance of their workings was, as it were, a wheel in the middle of a wheel. 17 When they moved, they went toward any one of four directions; they did not turn aside when they went. 18 As for their rims, they were so high they were awesome; and their rims were yfull of eyes, all around the four of them. 19 zWhen the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up. 20 Wherever the spirit wanted to go, they went, because there the spirit went; and the wheels were lifted together with them, afor the spirit of the 4living creatures was in the wheels. 21 When those went, these went; when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up together with them, for the spirit of the 5living creatures was in the wheels.

22 bThe likeness of the 6firmament above the heads of the 7living creatures was like the color of an awesome ccrystal, …

The Throne Room of Heaven

4 After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing aopen in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a btrumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.”

2 Immediately cI was in the Spirit; and behold, da throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. 3 1And He who sat there was elike a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; fand there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald. 4 gAround the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, hclothed in white 2robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads. 5 And from the throne proceeded ilightnings, 3thunderings, and voices. jSeven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are kthe 4seven Spirits of God.

6 Before the throne there 5was la sea of glass, like crystal. mAnd in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back. 7 nThe first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. 8 The four living creatures, each having osix wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying:

p“Holy, 6holy, holy,

qLord God Almighty,

rWho was and is and is to come!”

9 Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, swho lives forever and ever, 10 tthe twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying:

11 “You uare worthy, 7O Lord,

To receive glory and honor and power;

vFor You created all things,

And by wYour will they 8exist and were created.”

The Lamb Takes the Scroll

5 And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne aa scroll written inside and on the back, bsealed with seven seals. 2 Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, c“Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?” 3 And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, or to look at it.

4 So I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open 1and read the scroll, or to look at it. 5 But one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, dthe Lion of the tribe of eJudah, fthe Root of David, has gprevailed to open the scroll hand 2to loose its seven seals.”

6 And I looked, 3and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood ia Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and jseven eyes, which are kthe seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand lof Him who sat on the throne.

Worthy is the Lamb

8 Now when He had taken the scroll, mthe four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the nprayers of the saints. 9 And othey sang a new song, saying:

p“You are worthy to take the scroll,

And to open its seals;

For You were slain,

And qhave redeemed us to God rby Your blood

Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,

10 And have made 4us skings 5and tpriests to our God…