Add parallel Print Page Options

In the year that the Melech Uziyah died, I saw Adonoi sitting upon a kisse, high and lifted up, and His robe filled the Heikhal.

Above Him stood ministering the [flaming] seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he did fly.

And one cried unto another, and said, Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, is Hashem Tzva’os; kol ha’aretz is full of His kavod.

And the doorposts shook at the voice of him that cried, and the Beis [Hamikdash] was filled with smoke.

Then said I, Oy (Woe) is me! For I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for mine eyes have seen HaMelech, Hashem Tzva’os.

Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a live coal in his yad, which he had taken with the tongs from off the Mizbe’ach:

And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Hinei, this hath touched thy lips; and thine avon (iniquity) is taken away, and kapporah is made for the purging of thy chattat (sin).

Also I heard the voice of Adonoi, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us? Then said I, Hineini; send me.

And He said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see indeed, but perceive not.

10 Make the lev HaAm hazeh stubborn, and make their ears stopped up, their eyes heavy; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their lev. And have a spiritual turnaround conversion, and be healed.

11 Then cried I, Adonoi, ad mosai (how much longer [will this go on]? And He answered, Until the towns be wasted without inhabitant, and the batim (houses) are without man, and the ground be utterly desolate, a wilderness,

12 And Hashem have removed men far away, and there be many forsaken places within the land.

13 But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall be given up to destruction, like the terebinth and like the oak, when they are felled, leave [as a remnant] a root-stump: so the root-stump shall be the zera kodesh. [T.N. This next chapter is possibly the most important in the Bible and is dealt with in The Translator to the Reader.]

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