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Isaiah Becomes a Prophet

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a very high throne. His long robe filled the Temple. Burning heavenly creatures stood above him. Each creature had six wings. They used two wings to cover their faces. They used two wings to cover their feet. And they used two wings for flying. Each creature was calling to the others:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of heaven’s armies.
    His glory fills the whole earth.”

Their voices caused the frame around the door to shake. The Temple filled with smoke.

I said, “Oh, no! I will be destroyed. I am not pure. And I live among people who are not pure. But I have seen the King, the Lord of heaven’s armies.”

On the altar there was a fire. One of the burning heavenly creatures used a pair of tongs to take a hot coal from the fire. Then he flew to me with the hot coal in his hand. The creature touched my mouth with the hot coal. Then he said, “Look. Your guilt is taken away because this hot coal has touched your lips. Your sin is taken away.”

Then I heard the Lord’s voice. He said, “Whom can I send? Who will go for us?”

So I said, “Here I am. Send me!”

Then the Lord said, “Go and tell this to the people:

‘You will listen and listen, but you will not understand.
    You will look and look, but you will not learn.’
10 Make these people stubborn.
    Make them not able to understand what they hear and see.
Otherwise, they might really understand
    what they see with their eyes
    and hear with their ears.
They might really understand in their minds.
    If they did this, they would come back to me and be forgiven.”

11 Then I asked, “Lord, how long should I do this?”

He answered,

“Do this until the cities are destroyed
    and the people are gone.
Do this until there are no people left living in the houses.
    Do this until the land is destroyed and left empty.
12 I will send the people far away.
    And the land will be left empty.
13 One-tenth of the people will be left in the land.
    But the land will be destroyed again.
These people will be like an oak tree.
    When the tree is chopped down, a stump is left.
    The people who remain will be like a stump that will sprout again.”

Isaiah’s Commission

In the year that King Uzziah(A) died,(B) I saw the Lord,(C) high and exalted,(D) seated on a throne;(E) and the train of his robe(F) filled the temple. Above him were seraphim,(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, holy(I), 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)

“Woe(N) to me!” I cried. “I am ruined!(O) For I am a man of unclean lips,(P) and I live among a people of unclean lips,(Q) and my eyes have seen(R) the King,(S) the Lord Almighty.”(T)

Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal(U) 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;(V) your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.(W)

Then I heard the voice(X) of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send?(Y) And who will go for us?(Z)

And I said, “Here am I.(AA) Send me!”

He said, “Go(AB) and tell this people:

“‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding;
    be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’(AC)
10 Make the heart of this people calloused;(AD)
    make their ears dull
    and close their eyes.[a](AE)
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
    hear with their ears,(AF)
    understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”(AG)

11 Then I said, “For how long, Lord?”(AH)

And he answered:

“Until the cities lie ruined(AI)
    and without inhabitant,
until the houses are left deserted(AJ)
    and the fields ruined and ravaged,(AK)
12 until the Lord has sent everyone far away(AL)
    and the land is utterly forsaken.(AM)
13 And though a tenth remains(AN) in the land,
    it will again be laid waste.(AO)
But as the terebinth and oak
    leave stumps(AP) when they are cut down,
    so the holy(AQ) seed will be the stump in the land.”(AR)

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 6:10 Hebrew; Septuagint ‘You will be ever hearing, but never understanding; / you will be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ / 10 This people’s heart has become calloused; / they hardly hear with their ears, / and they have closed their eyes