Isaiah’s Vision of the Lord
In the year that aKing Uzziah died I bsaw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had asix 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:
a“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
bthe whole earth is full of his glory!”
4 And athe foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and bthe house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! aFor I am lost; bfor 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 cKing, 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 atouched 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 aus?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” 9 And he said, “Go, and say to this people:
a“‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’
10 aMake the heart of this people bdull,
and their ears heavy,
and blind their eyes;
clest they see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears,
and understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”
11 Then I said, a“How long, O Lord?”
And he said:
“Until bcities lie waste
without inhabitant,
and houses without people,
and the land is a desolate waste,
12 and the Lord removes people far away,
and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.
13 aAnd though a tenth remain in it,
it will be burned again,
like a terebinth or an oak,
whose stump bremains
when it is felled.”
cThe holy seed is its stump.