4. Their voices shook the foundations of the doorposts, and the temple filled with smoke.
5. So I said, “Oh, no!I’m doomed.Every word that passes through my lips is sinful.I live among people with sinful lips.I have seen the king, the Lord of Armies!”
6. Then one of the angels flew to me. In his hand was a burning coal that he had taken from the altar with tongs.
7. He touched my mouth with it and said, “This has touched your lips. Your guilt has been taken away, and your sin has been forgiven.”
8. Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom will I send? Who will go for us?”I said, “Here I am. Send me!”
9. And he said, “Go and tell these people,‘No matter how closely you listen, you’ll never understand.No matter how closely you look, you’ll never see.’
10. Make these people close-minded.Plug their ears.Shut their eyes.Otherwise, they may see with their eyes,hear with their ears,understand with their minds,and return and be healed.”
11. I asked, “How long, O Lord?”And he replied,“Until the cities lie in ruins with no one living in them,the houses have no people,and the land is completely desolate.