Isaiah 6:6-13

Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said, “Listen carefully, this has touched your lips; your wickedness [your sin, your injustice, your wrongdoing] is taken away and your sin atoned for and forgiven.” Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!” And He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on listening, but do not understand; Keep on looking, but do not comprehend.’ “Make the heart of this people insensitive, Their ears dull, And their eyes dim, Otherwise they might see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, Understand with their hearts, And return and be healed.” Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered, “Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant, And houses are without people And the land is utterly desolate, The LORD has removed [His] people far away, And there are many deserted places in the midst of the land. “And though a tenth [of the people] remain in the land, It will again be subject to destruction [consumed and burned], Like a massive terebinth tree or like an oak Whose stump remains when it is chopped down. The holy seed [the elect remnant] is its stump [the substance of Israel].”