God appointed Isaiah to be a prophet

1During the year that King Uzziah died, Yahweh showed me a vision. In the vision, I saw Yahweh sitting on a throne, high above everyone. He was wearing a very long robe that covered the floor of the temple.

2Above him were standing several winged creatures. Each of them had six wings. They covered their faces with two of their wings, they covered their feet with two of their wings, and they flew using two of their wings.

3They were calling to each other, saying, “The Commander of the armies of angels is holy; he is completely holy! The entire earth is filled with his glory.”

4When they spoke, it caused the doorposts of the temple to shake, and the temple was filled with smoke.

5Then I said, “Terrible things will happen to me, because everything that I say [MTY] is sinful, and I live among people who constantly say [MTY] sinful things. I will be destroyed because I have seen the Commander of the armies of angels!”

6Then one of the winged creatures took a hot coal from the altar, using a pair of tongs. He flew to me

7and touched my lips with the coal. Then he said, “Look at what I have done. I have touched your lips with this coal. Now your guilt is ended, and your sins are forgiven [DOU].”

8Then I heard Yahweh asking, “Whom shall I send to be a messenger to my people? Who will go and speak for us?” I replied, “I will. Send me!”

9Then he said, “Okay, go, and say to the Israeli people, ‘You will listen carefully to what I say, but you will not understand it. You will look very carefully at the things that I am doing, but you will not understand them.’

10What you(sg) say will cause these people to become stubborn [IDM]; it will cause them to not be able to hear what I say and see what I do. As a result, they will not see what I want them to see or hear what I want them to hear, and they will not understand it, and they will not turn to me and be saved from being punished.”

11Then I said, “How long do you want me to continue to do that?” He replied, “Do it until their cities are ruined by their enemies, until no one is living in their houses, do it until all the crops are stolen from their fields and the fields are ruined.

12Do it until I have ◄exiled everyone/forced everyone to go to their enemies’ lands► far away, and the whole land of Israel is deserted.

13If even one tenth of the people survive and stay there, their enemies will invade the land again and burn everything. But, just like [MET] when an oak tree is cut down, a stump is left from which new shoots will grow, the people who remain in this land will be a group that will become large again and be ◄set apart for/dedicated to► me.”