Isaiah 5:24-6:13

English Standard Version

²⁴Therefore, ^(A)as the tongue of fire devours the stubble,
    and as dry grass sinks down in the flame,
so ^(B)their root will be ^(C)as rottenness,
    and their blossom go up like dust;
for they have ^(D)rejected the law of the Lord of hosts,
    and have ^(E)despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
²⁵Therefore ^(F)the anger of the Lord was kindled against his people,
    and he stretched out his hand against them and struck them,
    and ^(G)the mountains quaked;
and their corpses were ^(H)as refuse
    in the midst of the streets.
^(I)For all this his anger has not turned away,
    and his hand is stretched out still.

²⁶He will ^(J)raise a signal for nations far away,
    and ^(K)whistle for them ^(L)from the ends of the earth;
and behold, quickly, speedily they come!
²⁷^(M)None is weary, none stumbles,
    none slumbers or sleeps,
not a waistband is loose,
    not a sandal strap broken;
²⁸^(N)their arrows are sharp,
    all their bows bent,
their horses' hoofs seem like flint,
    and their wheels ^(O)like the whirlwind.
²⁹Their roaring is like a lion,
    like young lions they roar;
they growl and ^(P)seize their prey;
    they carry it off, and none can rescue.
³⁰They will growl over it on that day,
    like the growling of the sea.
And if one looks to the land,
    behold, ^(Q)darkness and distress;
and the light is darkened by its clouds.

Isaiah's Vision of the Lord

6 In the year that ^(R)King Uzziah died I ^(S)saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train^[a] of his robe filled the temple. ²Above him stood the seraphim. Each had ^(T)six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. ³And one called to another and said:

^(U)“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
^(V)the whole earth is full of his glory!”^[b]

⁴And ^(W)the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and ^(X)the house was filled with smoke. ⁵And I said: “Woe is me! ^(Y)For I am lost; ^(Z)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 ^(AA)King, the Lord of hosts!”

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 ^(AB)touched 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

⁸And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for ^(AC)us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” ⁹And he said, “Go, and say to this people:

^(AD)“‘Keep on hearing,^[c] but do not understand;
keep on seeing,^[d] but do not perceive.’
¹⁰^(AE)Make the heart of this people ^(AF)dull,^[e]
    and their ears heavy,
    and blind their eyes;
^(AG)lest they see with their eyes,
    and hear with their ears,
and understand with their hearts,
    and turn and be healed.”
¹¹Then I said, ^(AH)“How long, O Lord?”
And he said:
“Until ^(AI)cities lie waste
    without inhabitant,
and houses without people,
    and the land is a desolate waste,
¹²and the Lord removes people far away,
    and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.
¹³^(AJ)And though a tenth remain in it,
    it will be burned^[f] again,
like a terebinth or an oak,
    whose stump ^(AK)remains
    when it is felled.”
^(AL)The holy seed^[g] is its stump.