Isaiah 6:1–13

Isaiah’s Commission

6In the year that King Uzziah^g died,^h I saw the Lord,ⁱ high and exalted,^j seated on a throne;^k and the train of his robe^l filled the temple. ²Above 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. ³And they were calling to one another:

“Holy, holy^o, holy is the Lord Almighty;^p

the whole earth^q is full of his glory.”^r

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

⁵“Woe^t 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 seen^x the King,^y the Lord Almighty.”^z

⁶Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal^a in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. ⁷With 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”

⁸Then I heard the voice^d 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!”

⁹He said, “Go^h and tell this people:

“ ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding;

be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ⁱ

¹⁰Make the heart of this people calloused;^j

make their ears dull

and close their eyes.^ak

Otherwise they might see with their eyes,

hear with their ears,^l

understand with their hearts,

and turn and be healed.”^m

¹¹Then I said, “For how long, Lord?”ⁿ

And he answered:

“Until the cities lie ruined^o

and without inhabitant,

until the houses are left deserted^p

and the fields ruined and ravaged,^q

¹²until the Lord has sent everyone far away^r

and the land is utterly forsaken.^s

¹³And though a tenth remains^t in the land,

it will again be laid waste.^u

But as the terebinth and oak

leave stumps^v when they are cut down,

so the holy^w seed will be the stump in the land.”^x