In the year King Uzziah died,
I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne,
with the train of his garment filling the temple.
Seraphim were stationed above; each of them had six wings:
with two they veiled their faces,
with two they veiled their feet,
and with two they hovered aloft.
—Isaiah 6:1-8
“The earth is filled with glory,”
the hosts of heaven cried,
“Oh, holy, holy, holy!”
in the year Uzziah died.
And oh, the doorframe trembled;
the air filled up with smoke,
for God is in his temple.
The seraphim had spoke!
But I cried out in terror
and I cried out once more
as loud as any seraph,
for I had seen the Lord.
“Depart from me, my savior,
for I am all unclean!”
But came an ember flaming
that burned away my sin.
Then God said, “Who is for us?
What herald shall I send
to sing this glory chorus
to all the earth's far ends?”
And I cried out, “I'm here, Lord!”
And I cried out, “Send me!”
And I went crying forward
to tell what I had seen:
That God is in his temple
and none escape his sight.
But take the flaming ember
and swallow down its light
and fill the earth with glory
from inland to the coast.
Cry “Holy, holy, holy
is God the lord of hosts!”
Isaiah, fresco painted by Michelangelo and his assistants for the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican between 1508 to 1512 – Self-scanned, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2776989
Kate Bluett 