1In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train[1] of his robe filled the temple. (2Ch 26:16; Isa 1:1; Joh 12:41)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. (Re 4:8)3And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”[2] (Ps 72:19; Isa 6:2)4And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. (Ex 19:18; 1Ki 8:10; Am 9:1; Re 15:8)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!” (Jud 13:22; 1Sa 12:12; Isa 33:17; Jer 10:10; Lu 5:8)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.” (Jer 1:9; Da 10:16)
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.” (Ge 1:26)9And he said, “Go, and say to this people: “‘Keep on hearing,[3] but do not understand; keep on seeing,[4] but do not perceive.’ (Mt 13:14; Mr 4:12; Lu 8:10; Ac 28:26; Ro 11:8)10Make the heart of this people dull,[5] 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.” (Ps 119:70; Jer 5:21; Joh 12:40)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, (Ps 79:5; Ps 89:46; Isa 1:7; Isa 27:10)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 burned[6] again, like a terebinth or an oak, whose stump remains when it is felled.” The holy seed[7] is its stump. (Ezr 9:2; Job 14:7; Isa 10:22)