Isaiah 6
New Catholic Bible
The Book of Immanuel
Chapter 6
Isaiah’s Call.[a] 1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a high and lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 In attendance above him were seraphim.[b] Each of them had six wings: with two they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with the third pair they flew. 3 And they called out to one another,
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.
The entire earth is filled with his glory.”
4 The voices of those who called out shook the thresholds, and the temple was filled with smoke. 5 Then I said,
“Woe is me! I am doomed.
For I am a man of unclean lips,
and I live among a people of unclean lips,
yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, holding in his hand a burning coal that he had removed from the altar with a pair of tongs. 7 He touched my mouth with it and said,
“Now that this has touched your lips,
your guilt has been removed
and your sin has been blotted out.”
8 I then heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?” I said, “Here I am. Send me!” 9 Then he replied: Go forth and tell this people:
No matter how carefully you listen,
you will not understand.
You will continue to look,
but you will not comprehend.
10 Make the minds of this people dull;
stop up their ears
and close their eyes.
Otherwise their eyes will see,
their ears will hear,
their hearts will understand,
and they will change their ways
and be healed.
11 Then I asked, “How long, O Lord?” He replied:
Until the cities lie in ruins
and become deserted,
until the houses are unoccupied
and the land lies completely desolate,
12 until the Lord drives the people far away
and the country will be totally abandoned.
13 Even if a tenth of the people remain there,
that area too will be destroyed,
like a terebinth or an oak
whose stump remains when it is felled;
the holy seed is its stump.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 6:1 In around 740 B.C., in the midst of the temple ceremonial, the prophet was seized by the glory of God, who is beyond every creature. The “seraphs,” beings of fire, seem to surround God but are unable to endure the splendor of his mystery. Heaven resounds with the great acclamation of the Lord of hosts, that is, the Lord of all the creatures of the universe; God’s “glory,” his mysterious, active presence fills the worlds.
In the moment in which Isaiah experiences the greatness and holiness of God, he is pierced by a sense that he is nothing but sin. But it is not possible to discover God without also opening oneself to some demand; in the Bible, there is no call without a mission. God wills that he should need human beings in order to carry out his plan. His call purifies the one whom he chooses. From now on, Isaiah will be another person, one charged with the mission of censuring his fellow Israelites who are blinding themselves and closing their ears. Only when the people, greatly reduced in numbers, will have lost every illusion and every human support, will salvation from God arise out of the little group of survivors. This vocation story introduces the “Book of Immanuel” (Isa 7–12), which conveys the essentials of his message. - Isaiah 6:2 Seraphim: the word means “burning, blazing.” Here, they are heavenly beings in human form. Isaiah is the first in the Bible to connect them with Yahweh.
Isaia 6
Cornilescu 1924 - Revised 2010, 2014
Isaia în slujbă
6 În anul morţii împăratului(A) Ozia, am văzut(B) pe Domnul şezând pe un scaun de domnie foarte înalt, şi poalele mantiei Lui umpleau Templul. 2 Serafimii stăteau deasupra Lui şi fiecare avea şase aripi: cu două îşi acopereau faţa, cu două îşi acopereau(C) picioarele şi cu două zburau. 3 Strigau unul la altul şi ziceau: „Sfânt(D), sfânt, sfânt este Domnul oştirilor! Tot(E) pământul este plin de mărirea Lui!” 4 Şi se zguduiau uşorii uşii de glasul care răsuna şi casa(F) s-a umplut de fum. 5 Atunci(G) am zis: „Vai de mine! Sunt pierdut, căci sunt un om cu buze necurate, locuiesc în mijlocul unui popor tot cu buze necurate, şi am văzut cu ochii mei pe Împăratul, Domnul oştirilor!” 6 Dar unul din serafimi a zburat spre mine cu un cărbune aprins în mână, pe care-l luase cu cleştele de pe altar(H). 7 Mi-a atins(I) gura cu el şi a zis: „Iată, atingându-se cărbunele acesta de buzele tale, nelegiuirea ta este îndepărtată şi păcatul tău este ispăşit!” 8 Am auzit glasul Domnului întrebând: „Pe cine să trimit şi cine va merge pentru Noi(J)?” Eu am răspuns: „Iată-mă, trimite-mă!” 9 El a zis atunci: „Du-te şi spune poporului acestuia: ‘Întruna veţi auzi(K), şi nu veţi înţelege; întruna veţi vedea, şi nu veţi pricepe!’ 10 Împietreşte inima(L) acestui popor, fă-l tare de urechi şi astupă-i ochii, ca(M) să nu vadă cu ochii, să n-audă cu urechile, să nu înţeleagă cu inima, să nu se întoarcă la Mine şi să nu fie tămăduit.” 11 Şi eu am întrebat: „Până când, Doamne?” El a răspuns: „Până(N) când vor rămâne cetăţile pustii şi lipsite de locuitori; până când nu va mai fi nimeni în case şi ţara va fi pustiită de tot; 12 până va îndepărta Domnul(O) pe oameni şi ţara va ajunge o mare pustie. 13 Şi chiar a zecea parte de va mai rămâne din locuitori vor fi nimiciţi şi ei la rândul lor. Dar, după cum terebintul şi stejarul îşi păstrează butucul din rădăcină când sunt tăiaţi, tot aşa o sămânţă(P) sfântă se va naşte iarăşi din poporul acesta.”
Isaiah 6
King James Version
6 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.
3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.
6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.
8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.
9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.
11 Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,
12 And the Lord have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.
13 But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.
Copyright of the Cornilescu Bible © 1924 belongs to British and Foreign Bible Society. Copyright © 2010, 2014 of the revised edition in Romanian language belongs to the Interconfessional Bible Society of Romania, with the approval of the British and Foreign Bible Society.

