June 1 Daily Devotional

Isaiah 1–6

In the days of the three kings, Uzziah, Jotham, and Ahaz, the Lord raised up a great prophet in Judah, whose name was Isaiah. One day while he was worshipping in the temple, a wonderful vision suddenly appeared unto him. He saw the Lord upon a throne, with a number of angels around about him. And one of the Seraphims—so these angels were called—cried unto another, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.” Young Isaiah felt the walls of the temple shaking at this voice. He saw a cloud of smoke covering the house. He was filled with fear. He called out, “Woe is me, for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” Then one of the Seraphims took a burning coal from the altar with the tongs used for sacrifices and pressed it to the lips of Isaiah, saying, “Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.”

Then Isaiah heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Isaiah replied, “Here am I, send me.” Thus Isaiah was called into the service of the Lord. He became a witness for God in the days of apostasy. He realized that darkness covers the earth and gross darkness the people. He called, “Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the Lord hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. A sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. Why should ye be stricken anymore? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment. Your country is desolate, your cities are burnt with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers … To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? … Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me … When ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes … Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed; judge the fatherless.”