6 In the same year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a grand throne way up high with a flowing cape that filled the whole temple. 2 Bright flaming creatures waited on Him. Each had six wings: two covering its face, two covering its feet, and two for flying. 3 Like some fiery choir, they would call back and forth continually.
Flaming Creatures: Holy, holy, holy is the Eternal, the Commander of heavenly armies!
The earth is filled with His glorious presence!
4 They were so loud that the doorframes shook, and the holy house kept filling with smoke.
5 Isaiah: I am in so much trouble! I’m ruined!
I’m just a human being—fallible and stammering.
My lips are encrusted with filth;
and I live among people just like me.
But here I am, and I’ve seen with my very own eyes
none other than the King, the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies.
6 Then one of the flaming creatures flew to me holding a red-hot ember which it had taken from God’s table, the temple altar, with a pair of tongs. 7 The creature held it to my lips.
Flaming Creature: Look! With the touch of this burning ember on your lips,
your guilt is turned away;
All your faults and wrongdoings are forgiven.
8 Then I heard the Lord’s voice.
Eternal One: Whom shall I send? Who will go for Us?
Isaiah: Here I am! Send me.
Eternal One: 9 Go to this people and say,
“Keep listening, but do not comprehend;
Keep looking, but do not understand.”[a]
10 Make their hearts hard, their ears deaf, and their eyes blind.
Otherwise, they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears,
Understand with their hearts, and then turn and be healed.[b]
11 Isaiah: How long, Lord?
Eternal One: Until cities are in ruins, the houses sit empty,
and the land has become a wasteland.
12 You see, the Eternal has determined to move the people far away;
place after place will be completely abandoned.
13 And even if just a tenth survive, it will be burned again;
imagine a terebinth or an oak; once it is cut down, the stump remains.
The holy seed remains in the stump.