Isaiah’s Commission

6 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. ² 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. ³ And they were calling to one another:

⁴ At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.^(M)

⁵ “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)

⁶ 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. ⁷ 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)”

⁸ 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!”

²⁵ For the foolishness^(A) of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness^(B) of God is stronger than human strength.

²⁶ Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called.^(C) Not many of you were wise^(D) by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. ²⁷ But God chose^(E) the foolish^(F) things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. ²⁸ God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not^(G)—to nullify the things that are, ²⁹ so that no one may boast before him.^{(H) 30} It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus,^(I) who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness,^(J) holiness^(K) and redemption.^{(L) 31} Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”^[a](M)