Isaiah's Vision of the Lord

1In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train6:1 Or hem of his robe filled the temple. 2Above 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. 3And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;

the whole earth is full of his glory!”6:3 Or may his glory fill the whole earth

4And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5And 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!”

6Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7And 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

8And 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.” 9And he said, “Go, and say to this people:

“ ‘Keep on hearing,6:9 Or Hear indeed but do not understand;

keep on seeing,6:9 Or see indeed but do not perceive.’

10Make the heart of this people dull,6:10 Hebrew fat

and their ears heavy,

and blind their eyes;

lest they see with their eyes,

and hear with their ears,

and understand with their hearts,

and turn and be healed.”

11Then I said, “How long, O Lord?”

And he said:

“Until cities lie waste

without inhabitant,

and houses without people,

and the land is a desolate waste,

12and the LORD removes people far away,

and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.

13And though a tenth remain in it,

it will be burned6:13 Or purged again,

like a terebinth or an oak,

whose stump remains

when it is felled.”

The holy seed6:13 Or offspring is its stump.