1 In the year that King Uzziah  * 6:1 2Kg 15:1–7; Is 1:1; 14:28 died, I saw the Lord  * 6:1 Gn 32:30; Ex 3:1–6; 24:9–10; Jos 5:13–15; 1Kg 22:19; Is 31:3; Jn 1:18; 4:24; 12:41 seated on a high and lofty  * 6:1 Is 52:13; 57:15 throne,  * 6:1 Ps 9:7; 11:4; 45:6; Is 66:1; Jr 3:17; Ezk 1:26; 10:1; 43:7 and the hem of his robe filled the temple. 2 Seraphim  * 6:2 = heavenly beings were standing above him; they each had six wings:  * 6:2 Rv 4:8 with two they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew.  * 6:2 Ezk 1:143 And one called to another:

Holy, holy, holy is the  Lord of Armies;

his glory  * 6:3 Ex 16:10; 24:16–17; 40:34–35; 1Kg 8:11; Is 35:2; 40:5; 60:1; Ezk 1:28; Lk 9:32 fills the whole earth.  * 6:3 Nm 14:21; Ps 72:19

4 The foundations of the doorways shook  * 6:4 Ex 19:8; Hab 3:3–10; Rv 15:8 at the sound of their voices, and the temple was filled with smoke.

5 Then I said:

Woe is me  * 6:5 Ex 33:20; Jdg 13:22; Is 59:3; Jr 9:3–8; Lk 5:8 for I am ruined  * 6:5 Or I must be silent

because I am a man of unclean lips

and live among a people of unclean lips,  * 6:5 Ex 6:12,30

and because my eyes have seen the King,

the Lord of Armies.

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a glowing coal that he had taken from the altar  * 6:6 Lv 6:12–13; 17:11 with tongs. 7 He touched my mouth  * 6:7 Jr 1:9; Dn 10:16 with it and said:

Now that this has touched your lips,

your iniquity is removed

and your sin is atoned for.  * 6:7 Ex 21:30; 30:12–16

8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord asking:

Who will I send?

Who will go for us?

I said:

Here I am. Send me.

9 And he replied:

Go! Say to these people:

Keep listening, but do not understand;  * 6:9–10 Mt 13:14–15; Mk 4:12; Lk 8:10; Jn 12:40; Ac 28:26–27

keep looking, but do not perceive.

10 Make the minds  * 6:10 Lit heart of these people dull;

deafen their ears and blind their eyes;

otherwise they might see with their eyes

and hear with their ears,

understand with their minds,

turn back, and be healed.  * 6:10 Zch 7:11–12; 1Th 2:16

11 Then I said, "Until when, Lord? "  * 6:11 Ps 79:5; 89:46 And he replied:

Until cities lie in ruins without inhabitants,  * 6:11 Is 1:7; 27:10

houses are without people,

the land is ruined and desolate,

12 and the Lord drives the people far away,

leaving great emptiness in the land.

13 Though a tenth will remain in the land,

it will be burned again.

Like the terebinth or the oak

that leaves a stump when felled,

the holy seed  * 6:13 Is 41:8; 43:5; 45:25; 53:10; 59:21; 65:9,23; 66:22 is the stump.  * 6:13 Is 11:1