Isaiah’s Commission

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.^{* 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. 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.”

⁴ At the sound of their voices the doorposts^* and thresholds shook, 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.”

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. 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.”^*

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!”

⁹ And He replied:

“Go and tell this people,

‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding;

be ever seeing^*,^* but never perceiving.’

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.”

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,

¹² until the LORD has driven men far away

and the land is utterly forsaken.

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.”