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 dull and 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 ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left deserted and the fields ruined and ravaged,
12. until the Lord has sent everyone far away and the land is utterly forsaken.