Isaiah 6

Isaiah’s Commission

In the year that King Uzziah^a died,^b I saw the Lord^c seated on a throne,^d high and exalted,^e and the train of his robe^f filled the temple. Above him were seraphs,^g each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet,^h and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another:

“Holy, holyⁱ, holy is the Lord Almighty;^j

the whole earth^k is full of his glory.”^l

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

“Woeⁿ to me!” I cried. “I am ruined!^o For I am a man of unclean lips,^pq and I live among a people of unclean lips,^r and my eyes have seen^s the King,^t the Lord Almighty.”^u

Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal^v in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips;^w your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.^x”

Then I heard the voice^y of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send?^z And who will go for us?^a”

And I said, “Here am I.^b Send me!”

He said, “Go^c and tell this people:

“ ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding;

be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’^d

Make the heart of this people calloused;^e

make their ears dull

and close their eyes.^f

Otherwise they might see with their eyes,

hear with their ears,^g

understand with their hearts,

and turn and be healed.”^h

Then I said, “For how long, Lord?”ⁱ

And he answered:

“Until the cities lie ruined^j

and without inhabitant,

until the houses are left deserted^k

and the fields ruined and ravaged,^l

until the Lord has sent everyone far away^m

and the land is utterly forsaken.ⁿ

And though a tenth remains^o in the land,

it will again be laid waste.^p

But as the terebinth and oak

leave stumps^q when they are cut down,

so the holy^r seed will be the stump in the land.”^s