The Hebrew Prophets

But the LORD of Hosts will be exalted by His justice, and the holy God will show Himself holy in righteousness.

Lambs will graze as in their own pastures, and strangers will feed in the ruins of the wealthy.

Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of deceit and pull sin along with cart ropes,

to those who say, “Let Him hurry and hasten His work so that we may see it! Let the plan of the Holy One of Israel come so that we may know it!”

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who turn darkness to light and light to darkness, who replace bitter with sweet and sweet with bitter.

Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.

Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine and champions in mixing strong drink,

who acquit the guilty for a bribe and deprive the innocent of justice.

Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes the straw, and as dry grass shrivels in the flame, so their roots will decay and their blossoms will blow away like dust; for they have rejected the instruction of the LORD of Hosts and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

Therefore the anger of the LORD burns against His people; His hand is raised against them to strike them down. The mountains quake, and the corpses lay like refuse in the streets. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised.

He lifts a banner for the distant nations and whistles for those at the ends of the earth. Behold—how speedily and swiftly they come!

None of them grows weary or stumbles; no one slumbers or sleeps. No belt is loose and no sandal strap is broken.

Their arrows are sharpened, and all their bows are strung. The hooves of their horses are like flint; their chariot wheels are like a whirlwind.

Their roaring is like that of a lion; they roar like young lions. They growl and seize their prey; they carry it away from deliverance.

In that day they will roar over it, like the roaring of the sea. If one looks over the land, he will see darkness and distress; even the light will be obscured by clouds.

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted; and the train of His robe filled the temple.

Above Him stood seraphim, each having six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.

And they were calling out to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts; all the earth is full of His glory.”

At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook, and the temple was filled with smoke.

Then I said: “Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips dwelling among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Hosts.”

Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a glowing coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar.

And with it he touched my mouth and said: “Now that this has touched your lips, your iniquity is removed and your sin is atoned for.”

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying: “Whom shall I send? Who will go for Us?” And I said: “Here am I. Send me!”

And He replied: “Go and tell this people, ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’

Make the hearts of this people calloused; deafen their ears and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”