Study Desk

Isaiah's Commission

In the year that King Uzziah^(a) died,^(b) I saw the Lord,^(c) high and exalted,^(d) seated on a throne;^(e) and the train of his robe^(f) filled the temple.

Above him were seraphim,^(g) each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet,^(h) and with two they were flying.

And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy⁽ⁱ⁾, holy is the Lord Almighty;^(j) the whole earth^(k) is full of his glory."^(l)

At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.^(m)

"Woe⁽ⁿ⁾ to me!" I cried. "I am ruined!^(o) For I am a man of unclean lips,^(p) and I live among a people of unclean lips,^(q) and my eyes have seen^(r) the King,^(s) the Lord Almighty."^(t)

Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal^(u) in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar.

With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips;^(v) your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.^(w)"

Then I heard the voice^(x) of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send?^(y) And who will go for us?^(z)" And I said, "Here am I.^(aa) Send me!"

He said, "Go^(ab) and tell this people: "‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.'^(ac)

Make the heart of this people calloused;^(ad) make their ears dull and close their eyes.^[a](ae) Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears,^(af) understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed."^(ag)

Then I said, "For how long, Lord?"^(ah) And he answered: "Until the cities lie ruined^(ai) and without inhabitant, until the houses are left deserted^(aj) and the fields ruined and ravaged,^(ak)

until the Lord has sent everyone far away^(al) and the land is utterly forsaken.^(am)

And though a tenth remains^(an) in the land, it will again be laid waste.^(ao) But as the terebinth and oak leave stumps^(ap) when they are cut down, so the holy^(aq) seed will be the stump in the land."^(ar)