Isaiah’s Vision of the Lord
1 In the year that sKing Uzziah died I tsaw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train1 of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had usix wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said:
u“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
4 And wthe foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and xthe house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! yFor I am lost; zfor I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the aKing, the Lord of hosts!”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he btouched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”
Isaiah’s Commission from the Lord
8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for cus?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” 9 And he said, “Go, and say to this people:
d“‘Keep on hearing,3 but do not understand;
keep on seeing,4 but do not perceive.’
10 eMake the heart of this people fdull,5
and their ears heavy,
and blind their eyes;
glest they see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears,
and understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”
11 Then I said, h“How long, O Lord?”
And he said:
“Until icities lie waste
without inhabitant,
and houses without people,
and the land is a desolate waste,
12 and the Lord removes people far away,
and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.
13 jAnd though a tenth remain in it,
it will be burned6 again,
like a terebinth or an oak,
whose stump kremains
when it is felled.”
Fallen, Fallen Is Babylon
1 The toracle concerning the wilderness of uthe sea.
vAs whirlwinds in the Negeb sweep on,
it comes from the wilderness,
from a terrible land.
2 A stern vision is told to me;
wthe traitor betrays,
and the destroyer destroys.
Go up, O xElam;
lay siege, O yMedia;
all the zsighing she has caused
I bring to an end.
3 Therefore my loins are filled with anguish;
apangs have seized me,
like the pangs of a woman in labor;
I am bowed down so that I cannot hear;
I am dismayed so that I cannot see.
4 My heart staggers; horror has appalled me;
bthe twilight I longed for
has been turned for me into trembling.
5 cThey prepare the table,
they spread the rugs,1
they eat, they drink.
Arise, O princes;
doil the shield!
6 For thus the Lord said to me:
“Go, set a watchman;
let him announce what he sees.
7 When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs,
riders on donkeys, riders on camels,
let him listen diligently,
very diligently.”
8 Then he who saw cried out:2
e“Upon a watchtower I stand, O Lord,
continually by day,
and at my post I am stationed
whole nights.
9 And behold, here come riders,
horsemen in pairs!”
fAnd he answered,
g“Fallen, fallen is Babylon;
hand all the carved images of her gods
he has shattered to the ground.”
10 O imy threshed and winnowed one,
what I have heard from the Lord of hosts,
the God of Israel, I announce to you.
11 The joracle concerning kDumah.
One is calling to me from lSeir,
“Watchman, what time of the night?
Watchman, what time of the night?”
12 The watchman says:
“Morning comes, and also mthe night.
If you will inquire, ninquire;
come back again.”
13 The ooracle concerning pArabia.
In the thickets in pArabia you will lodge,
14 To the thirsty bring water;
meet the fugitive with bread,
O inhabitants of the land of rTema.
15 For they have fled from the swords,
from the drawn sword,
from the bent bow,
and from the press of battle.
16 For thus the Lord said to me, “Within a year, saccording to the years of a hired worker, all the glory of tKedar will come to an end. 17 And the remainder of the archers of the mighty men of the sons of tKedar will be few, ufor the Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken.”
