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Isaiah’s Vision of the Lord in His Glory

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^(a) 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 called out to one another: Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts; His glory fills all the earth.⁴ The doorposts and thresholds shook at the sound of their voices, 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, and 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.”

Isaiah’s Commission

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^(a); deafen their ears and close their eyes^(a). 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 cities lie in ruins without an 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.”