[1] In the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a high and lofty throne. The bottom of his robe filled the temple. [2] Angels were standing above him. Each had six wings: With two they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. [3] They called to each other and said, "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Armies! The whole earth is filled with his glory." [4] Their voices shook the foundations of the doorposts, and the temple filled with smoke. [5] So I said, "Oh, no! I'm doomed. Every word that passes through my lips is sinful. I live among people with sinful lips. I have seen the king, the LORD of Armies!" [6] Then one of the angels flew to me. In his hand was a burning coal that he had taken from the altar with tongs. [7] He touched my mouth with it and said, "This has touched your lips. Your guilt has been taken away, and your sin has been forgiven." [8] Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, "Whom will I send? Who will go for us?" I said, "Here I am. Send me!" [9] And he said, "Go and tell these people, 'No matter how closely you listen, you'll never understand. No matter how closely you look, you'll never see.' [10] Make these people close-minded. Plug their ears. Shut their eyes. Otherwise, they may see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their minds, and return and be healed." [11] I asked, "How long, O Lord?" And he replied, "Until the cities lie in ruins with no one living in them, the houses have no people, and the land is completely desolate. [12] The LORD will send his people far away, and a large area in the middle of the land will be abandoned. [13] Even if one out of ten people is left in it, the land will be burned again. When a sacred oak or an oak is cut down, a stump is left. The holy seed will be the land's stump."
