< Isaiah 6 >

1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated in majesty on a high throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple.
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple.
2 Seraphim stood above him, and each of them had six wings: They used two wings to cover their faces, two to cover their feet, and two to fly.
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 They were calling out to one another: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; his glory fills the whole earth.
One called to another, and said, “Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of Armies! The whole earth is full of his glory!”
4 The sound of their shouts made the doorposts and doorsteps shake, and the Temple was filled with smoke.
The foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.
5 I cried out, “I'm doomed! I'm going to die because I'm a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, for I've seen the King, the Lord Almighty!”
Then I said, “Woe is me! For I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips and I live amongst a people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Armies!”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew over to me. He was holding a glowing coal that he had picked up with tongs from the altar.
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 He touched me on my mouth with it and told me, “Look! This has touched your lips, so now your guilt is taken away and your sin is forgiven.”
He touched my mouth with it, and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away, and your sin forgiven.”
8 Then I heard the Lord asking, “Who shall I send? Who will go and speak for us?” So I said, “I'm here! Please 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 He replied, “Go and tell this people: ‘Keep on listening, but never understanding. Keep on seeing, but never comprehending.’
He said, “Go, and tell this people, ‘You hear indeed, but don’t understand. You see indeed, but don’t perceive.’
10 Make the minds of this people insensitive; make their ears deaf and shut their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their minds, and repent and be healed.”
Make the heart of this people fat. Make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and turn again, and be healed.”
11 Then I asked, “How long will this last, Lord?” He replied, “Until towns are ruined and empty, houses are abandoned, and the land is devastated and destroyed;
Then I said, “Lord, how long?” He answered, “Until cities are waste without inhabitant, houses without man, the land becomes utterly waste,
12 until the Lord sends the people far away and the country is totally deserted.
and the LORD has removed men far away, and the forsaken places are many within the land.
13 Even though a tenth of the population remains in the land, it will be destroyed again. But in the same way as the terebinth and oak trees leave stumps when they're cut down, so the holy seed will remain as stump.”
If there is a tenth left in it, that also will in turn be consumed, as a terebinth, and as an oak whose stump remains when they are cut down, so the holy seed is its stump.”

< Isaiah 6 >