Isaiah 6

And it came to pass in the year in which king Ozias died, that I saw the Lord sitting on a throne high and lifted up; and the house was full of his glory.

And seraphim stood round about him; six wings to the one and six wings to the other; and with two they covered the face, and with two they covered the feet, and with two they flew.

And they cried one to the other and said: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Sabaoth; the whole earth is full of his glory.

And the lintel was lifted up by the voice with which they cried, and the house was filled with smoke.

And I said: O wretched am I, for I am pierced through; because being a man and having unclean lips, I dwell in the midst of a people having unclean lips; and I have seen with my eyes the King, the Lord Sabaoth.

And one of the seraphim was sent to me, and he had in his hand a coal, which he had taken from the altar with the tongs.

And he touched my mouth and said: Behold, this has touched your lips, and it will take away your lawless deeds and will purge away your sins.

And I heard the voice of the Lord saying: Whom shall I send, and who will go to this people? And I said: Here am I; send me.

And he said: Go and say to this people: You shall hear with hearing and shall by no means understand; and seeing you shall see and shall by no means perceive.

For the heart of this people has grown fat, and with their ears they have heard heavily, and their eyes they have closed; lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.

And I said: How long, O Lord? And he said: Until cities are made desolate so as not to be inhabited, and houses so as to have no people, and the land shall be left desolate.

And after these things God will remove the people far away, and those left shall be multiplied upon the land.

And yet upon it there is the tenth part, and again it shall be for plunder, as a terebinth and as an acorn when it falls out of its husk.