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In the same year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a grand throne way up high with a flowing cape that filled the whole temple. Bright flaming creatures waited on Him. Each had six wings: two covering its face, two covering its feet, and two for flying. Like some fiery choir, they would call back and forth continually.

Flaming Creatures: Holy, holy, holy is the Eternal, the Commander of heavenly armies!
        The earth is filled with His glorious presence!

They were so loud that the doorframes shook, and the holy house kept filling with smoke.

Isaiah: I am in so much trouble! I’m ruined!
        I’m just a human being—fallible and stammering.
    My lips are encrusted with filth;
        and I live among people just like me.
    But here I am, and I’ve seen with my very own eyes
        none other than the King, the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies.

Then one of the flaming creatures flew to me holding a red-hot ember which it had taken from God’s table, the temple altar, with a pair of tongs. The creature held it to my lips.

Flaming Creature: Look! With the touch of this burning ember on your lips,
        your guilt is turned away;
    All your faults and wrongdoings are forgiven.

Then I heard the Lord’s voice.

Eternal One: Whom shall I send? Who will go for Us?

Isaiah: Here I am! Send me.

Eternal One: Go to this people and say,
        “Keep listening, but do not comprehend;
    Keep looking, but do not understand.”[a]

10     Make their hearts hard, their ears deaf, and their eyes blind.
        Otherwise, they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears,
    Understand with their hearts, and then turn and be healed.[b]

11 Isaiah: How long, Lord?

Eternal One: Until cities are in ruins, the houses sit empty,
        and the land has become a wasteland.

12 You see, the Eternal has determined to move the people far away;
    place after place will be completely abandoned.
13 And even if just a tenth survive, it will be burned again;
    imagine a terebinth or an oak; once it is cut down, the stump remains.
The holy seed remains in the stump.

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