Isaiah 6

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.

Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.

And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”

And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.

And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for 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 King, the LORD of hosts!”

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

And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”

And he said, “Go, and say to this people: “‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’

Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

Then I said, “How long, O Lord?” And he said: “Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is a desolate waste,

and the LORD removes people far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.

And though a tenth remain in it, it will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak, whose stump remains when it is felled.” The holy seed is its stump.

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Isaiah 6:1

“In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.”

In the year that King Uzziah died, Isaiah saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, with the train of His robe filling the temple—the prophet's call vision is grounded in a specific historical moment (Uzziah's death) and begins with a theophany of the exalted Lord. The death of the earthly king provides context for encounter with the heavenly King; earthly kingship is exposed as temporary and subordinate to God's eternal reign. The vision of God upon a throne, high and lifted up, establishes His sovereignty and majesty; all earthly thrones and powers are subordinate. The image of the robe's train filling the temple suggests God's presence overwhelming the sanctuary; the entire sacred space is filled with divine glory. This verse introduces the call narrative that will continue through verse 13; it establishes the pattern: encounter with God's holiness produces conviction of sin and commission to prophetic service. The specificity of the historical moment grounds the vision in concrete reality rather than timeless abstraction.

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Isaiah 6:1

“In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.”

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