< Isaiah 6 >
1 In the year of King Uzziah's death I saw the Lord seated in his place, high and lifted up, and the Temple was full of the wide skirts of his robe.
In the year that king Uzziah died, I also saw the LORD sitting on a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple.
2 Over him were the winged ones: every one had six wings; two for covering his face, two for covering his feed, and two for flight.
Above 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.
3 And one said in a loud voice to another, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of armies: all the earth is full of his glory.
One called to another, and said, "Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory."
4 And the bases of the door-pillars were shaking at the sound of his cry, and the house was full of smoke.
The foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.
5 Then I said, The curse is on me, and my fate is destruction; for I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of armies.
Then I said, "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 my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts."
6 Then a winged one came to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from off the altar with the fire-spoon.
Then 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.
7 And after touching my mouth with it, he said, See, your lips have been touched with this; and your evil is taken away, and you are made clean from sin.
He touched my mouth with it, and said, "Look, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away, and your sins forgiven."
8 And the voice of the Lord came to my ears, saying, Whom am I to send, and who will go for us? Then I said, Here am I, send me.
I heard the LORD's voice, saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Then I said, "Here I am. Send me."
9 And he said, Go, and say to this people, You will go on hearing, but learning nothing; you will go on seeing, but without getting wiser.
And he said, "Go, and tell this people, 'In hearing you hear, but do not understand; and seeing you see, but do not perceive.'
10 Make the hearts of this people fat, and let their ears be stopped, and their eyes shut; for fear that they may see with their eyes, and be hearing with their ears, and their heart may become wise, and they may be turned to me and made well.
The heart of this people has grown dull, and their ears sluggish, and they have closed their eyes, otherwise they might see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn back, and I would heal them."
11 Then I said, Lord, how long? And he said in answer, Till the towns are waste and unpeopled, and the houses have no men, and the land becomes completely waste,
Then I said, "LORD, how long?" He answered, "Until cities are waste without inhabitant, and houses without man, and the land becomes utterly waste,
12 And the Lord has taken men far away, and there are wide waste places in the land.
and the LORD has removed men far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.
13 And even if there is still a tenth part in it, it will again be burned, like a tree of the woods whose broken end is still in the earth after the tree has been cut down (the holy seed is the broken end).
If there is a tenth left in it, that also will in turn be consumed: as a terebinth, and as an oak, whose stock remains when they are felled. The holy seed is its stock."