₁In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. He was sitting on his throne, high and exalted, and his robe filled the whole Temple. ₂Round him flaming creatures were standing, each of which had six wings. Each creature covered its face with two wings, and its body with two, and used the other two for flying. ₃They were calling out to each other:

₄The sound of their voices made the foundation of the Temple shake, and the Temple itself was filled with smoke.

₅I said, “There is no hope for me! I am doomed because every word that passes my lips is sinful, and I live among a people whose every word is sinful. And yet, with my own eyes, I have seen the King, the LORD Almighty!”

₆Then one of the creatures flew down to me, carrying a burning coal that he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. ₇He touched my lips with the burning coal and said, “This has touched your lips, and now your guilt is gone, and your sins are forgiven.”

₈Then I heard the Lord say, “Whom shall I send? Who will be our messenger?”

I answered, “I will go! Send me!”

₉So he told me to go and give the people this message: “No matter how much you listen, you will not understand. No matter how much you look, you will not know what is happening.” ₁₀Then he said to me, “Make the minds of these people dull, their ears deaf, and their eyes blind, so that they cannot see or hear or understand. If they did, they might turn to me and be healed.”

₁₁I asked, “How long will it be like this, Lord?”

He answered, “Until the cities are ruined and empty — until the houses are uninhabited — until the land itself is a desolate waste. ₁₂I will send the people far away and make the whole land desolate. ₁₃Even if one person out of ten remains in the land, he too will be destroyed; he will be like the stump of an oak tree that has been cut down.”

(The stump represents a new beginning for God's people.)