< Isaiah 6 >
1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted; and the train of His robe filled the temple.
During the year that King Uzziah died, [Yahweh showed me a vision. In the vision], I saw Yahweh sitting on a throne, high above everyone. He [was wearing a very long] robe that covered [the floor of] the temple.
2 Above 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.
Above him were standing [several] winged creatures. Each of them had six wings. They covered their faces with two of their wings, they covered their feet with two of their wings, and they flew using two of their wings.
3 And they were calling out to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts; all the earth is full of His glory.”
They were calling to each other, saying, “The Commander of the armies of angels is holy; he is completely holy! The entire earth is filled with his glory.”
4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook, and the temple was filled with smoke.
When they spoke, it caused the doorposts of the temple to shake, and the temple was filled with smoke.
5 Then I said: “Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips dwelling among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Hosts.”
Then I said, “Terrible things will happen to me, because everything that I say [MTY] is sinful, and I live among people who constantly say [MTY] sinful things. I will be destroyed because I have seen the Commander of the armies of angels!”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a glowing coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar.
Then one of the winged creatures took a hot coal from the altar, using a pair of tongs. He flew to me
7 And 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.”
and touched my lips with the coal. Then he said, “Look [at what I have done]. I have touched your lips [with this coal]. [Now] your guilt is ended, and your sins are forgiven [DOU].”
8 Then 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!”
Then I heard Yahweh asking, “Whom shall I send [to be a messenger to my people]? Who will go [and speak] for us?” I replied, “I will. Send me!”
9 And He replied: “Go and tell this people, ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
Then he said, “[Okay], go, and say to the [Israeli] people, ‘You will listen carefully [to what I say], but you will not understand it. You will look very carefully [at the things that I am doing], but you will not understand them.’
10 Make 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.”
[What you(sg) say will] cause these people to become stubborn [IDM]; [it will cause them] to not be able to hear [what I say] and see [what I do]. [As a result, they will not] see [what I want them to see] or hear [what I want them to hear], and they will not understand it, and they will not turn to me and be saved [from being punished].”
11 Then I asked: “How long, O Lord?” And He replied: “Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left unoccupied and the land is desolate and ravaged,
Then I said, “How long [do you want me to continue to do that]?” He replied, “[Do it] until their cities are ruined [by their enemies], [until] no one is living in their houses, [do it until] all the crops are stolen from their fields and the fields are ruined.
12 until the LORD has driven men far away and the land is utterly forsaken.
[Do it] until I have (exiled everyone/forced everyone to go to their enemies’ lands) far away, and the whole land [of Israel] is deserted.
13 And 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.”
If [even] one tenth [of the people survive and] stay there, [their enemies] will [invade the land again and] burn everything. [But, just] like [MET] when an oak [tree] is cut down, a stump is left [from which new shoots will grow], the people who remain [in this land will be a group that will become large again] and be (set apart for/dedicated to) me.”