Isaiah

Isaiah’s Commission

1In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted; and the train of His robefilled the temple.

2Above Him stood seraphim, each having six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.

3And they were calling out to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts;all the earth is full of His glory.”

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

5Then I said: “Woe is me,for I am ruined,because I am a man of unclean lipsdwelling among a people of unclean lips;for my eyes have seen the King,the LORD of Hosts.”

6Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a glowing coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar.

7And with it he touched my mouth and said: “Now that this has touched your lips,your iniquity is removed and your sin is atoned for.”

8Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying: “Whom shall I send?Who will go for Us?” And I said: “Here am I. Send me!”

9And He replied: “Go and tell this people,‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’

10Make the hearts of this people calloused;deafen their ears and close their eyes.Otherwise they might see with their eyes,hear with their ears, understand with their hearts,and turn and be healed.”

11Then I asked: “How long, O Lord?” And He replied: “Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left unoccupiedand the land is desolate and ravaged,

12until the LORD has driven men far awayand the land is utterly forsaken.

13And though a tenth remains in the land,it will be burned again.As the terebinth and oak leave stumps when felled,so the holy seed will be a stump in the land.”

1In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple.

2Above 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.

3One called to another, and said,“Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of Armies!The whole earth is full of his glory!”

4The foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.

5Then I said, “Woe is me! For I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Armies!”

6Then 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.

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

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

9He said, “Go, and tell this people,‘You hear indeed,but don’t understand.You see indeed,but don’t perceive.’

10Make the heart of this people fat.Make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes;lest they see with their eyes,hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and turn again, and be healed.”

11Then I said, “Lord, how long?” He answered,“Until cities are waste without inhabitant,houses without man, the land becomes utterly waste,

12and the LORD has removed men far away, and the forsaken places are many within the land.

13If there is a tenth left in it,that also will in turn be consumed,as a terebinth, and as an oak whose stump remains when they are cut down,so the holy seed is its stump.”