Isaiah 6

Isaiah's Vision of the Lord

1. In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train[a] of his robe filled the temple.

2. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.

3. And one called to another and said: 3 “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; 3 the whole earth is full of his glory!”[b]

4. And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.

5. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for 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 one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar.

7. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

Isaiah's Commission from the Lord

8. And I heard the voice of the Lord 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: 9 “‘Keep on hearing,[c] but do not understand; 9 keep on seeing,[d] but do not perceive.’

10. Make the heart of this people dull,[e] 10 and their ears heavy, 10 and blind their eyes; 10 lest they see with their eyes, 10 and hear with their ears, 10 and understand with their hearts, 10 and turn and be healed.”

11. Then I said, “How long, O Lord?” 11 And he said: 11 “Until cities lie waste 11 without inhabitant, 11 and houses without people, 11 and the land is a desolate waste,

12. and the Lord removes people far away, 12 and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.

13. And though a tenth remain in it, 13 it will be burned[f] again, 13 like a terebinth or an oak, 13 whose stump remains 13 when it is felled.” 13 The holy seed[g] is its stump.

Footnotes:
a. Isaiah 6:1: Or hem
b. Isaiah 6:3: Or may his glory fill the whole earth
c. Isaiah 6:9: Or Hear indeed
d. Isaiah 6:9: Or see indeed
e. Isaiah 6:10: Hebrew fat
f. Isaiah 6:13: Or purged
g. Isaiah 6:13: Or offspring