5 ‘Woe to me!’ I cried. ‘I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.’
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar.
7 With it he touched my mouth and said, ‘See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.’
8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’
9 He said, ‘Go and tell this people:‘ “Be ever hearing, but never understanding;be ever seeing, but never perceiving.”
10 Make the heart of this people calloused;make their ears dulland close their eyes.Otherwise they might see with their eyes,hear with their ears,understand with their hearts,and turn and be healed.’
11 Then I said, ‘For how long, Lord?’And he answered:‘Until the cities lie ruinedand without inhabitant,until the houses are left desertedand the fields ruined and ravaged,