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."