Single lesson
Isaiah 6: Isaiah's Vision and Calling
Isaiah 6:1–13
Isaiah 6:1–13 tells of a vision in the temple where Isaiah sees the Lord’s holiness, admits his uncleanness, receives cleansing, and is sent with a hard message that ends with an image of what remains.
Before you teach
The passage is dated to “the year that King Uzziah died”. Isaiah reports what he saw and heard: the Lord on a throne, seraphim crying out, the house shaking and filling with smoke, then the Lord’s question and Isaiah’s commission to speak to this people.
Explain the central teaching of Isaiah 6: Isaiah's Vision and Calling, using two details from the reading. Isaiah 6 presents the holy Lord who forgives Isaiah and sends him with a message of judgement that still leaves a stump.
Welcome: Isaiah 6: Isaiah's Vision and Calling
5 minIntroduce “Isaiah's Vision and Calling” and locate Isaiah 6:1–13. Isaiah 6 presents the holy Lord who forgives Isaiah and sends him with a message of judgement that still leaves a stump. Invite each learner to name a detail or question they will listen for.
Isaiah 6:1, Isaiah 6:7, Isaiah 6:13
Read and explain the passage
12 minIsaiah sees the Lord “high and lifted up” with his train filling the temple. Seraphim stand above him, each with six wings. Their cry, “Holy, holy, holy”, highlights the Lord’s holiness, and they say the whole earth is full of his glory.
Then Isaiah hears the Lord ask, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Isaiah answers, “Here I am. Send me!” The order matters in this passage. Isaiah first confesses his uncleanness and receives forgiveness, and only then does he respond to the Lord’s call to be sent.
Isaiah is told to speak to people who hear without understanding and see without perceiving. When he asks, “How long?” the answer speaks of waste, removal, and forsaken places. Yet the final picture is of a tree stump remaining, called “the holy seed”.
Read the selected verses together, pausing at “Isaiah's Vision and Calling”. Use the source reading below and check the explanation against the words of the passage.
Isaiah 6:1, Isaiah 6:2, Isaiah 6:3, Isaiah 6:5, Isaiah 6:7, Isaiah 6:8, Isaiah 6:9, Isaiah 6:10, Isaiah 6:11, Isaiah 6:12, Isaiah 6:13
Discuss the details and their meaning
8 minUse the three questions below. Begin with “What does the cry “Holy, holy, holy” add to Isaiah’s vision of the Lord?” and allow time to find the supporting verses. Isaiah 6 presents the holy Lord who forgives Isaiah and sends him with a message of judgement that still leaves a stump. Ask learners to explain which details support their answer and to identify a question they would like to explore further.
Isaiah 6:3, Isaiah 6:5, Isaiah 6:7, Isaiah 6:11, Isaiah 6:12, Isaiah 6:13
Make and respond: Vision and message evidence map
12 minWork on “Isaiah 6: Isaiah's Vision and Calling: Vision and message evidence map”. Follow the materials and steps below, using “Isaiah's Vision and Calling” as reading headings. Each learner should include at least two accurate details and their verse references. Share one observation from the finished sheet and explain how it connects with the central teaching.
Isaiah 6:1, Isaiah 6:7, Isaiah 6:13
Closing: return to Isaiah's Vision and Calling
3 minRevisit Isaiah 6:1–13. Invite a learner to summarise what the group has learned about Isaiah's Vision and Calling and another to support the summary with a verse. Give learners a moment to complete their response sheet. They can share a question or, if appropriate for the group, join the optional prayer.
Isaiah 6:1, Isaiah 6:7, Isaiah 6:13
Questions to explore
What does the cry “Holy, holy, holy” add to Isaiah’s vision of the Lord?
Use the repeated word and the statement about the whole earth being full of his glory.
Isaiah 6:3
Why does Isaiah speak about “unclean lips” when he sees the Lord?
Read his confession together with the seraph touching his mouth and announcing forgiveness.
Isaiah 6:5, Isaiah 6:7
How does the end of the passage hold judgement and a remnant together?
Notice both the language of waste and removal and the final image of a stump remaining.
Isaiah 6:11, Isaiah 6:12, Isaiah 6:13
Make, think or respond
Isaiah 6: Isaiah's Vision and Calling: Vision and message evidence map
What you’ll need
- plain paper or card
- pencils or pens
- a Bible or the source reading on this page
Try it together
- Fold a sheet into three panels or draw three columns. Label them “What the passage describes”, “What is explained in the text”, “What question remains”.
- Read Isaiah 6:1–13. Use “Isaiah's Vision and Calling” as your reading headings and add a short quotation or detail with its verse reference to each panel.
- Compare your notes with a partner. Check that every quotation is accurate and every conclusion has support in the passage.
- Circle an explanation the passage itself provides. Leave unexplained details as questions for further reading.
The finished sheet keeps the details of Isaiah 6: Isaiah's Vision and Calling connected to their Bible references and gives the group a way to explain what they noticed.
Adapt for your group
- For learners who need more support, prepare the reading headings “Isaiah's Vision and Calling” and let them match short quotations to the correct heading.
- For confident readers, compare two sections of Isaiah 6:1–13. Ask for a written explanation with two supporting references and one question that the text leaves open.
An optional closing prayer
“God, help us listen carefully as we read Isaiah 6:1–13. Help us understand what we have read, ask thoughtful questions and respond with care for others. Amen.”
Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic
Isaiah 6
1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple.
2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each one had six wings. With two he covered his face. With two he covered his feet. With two he flew.
3 One called to another, and said, “Holy, holy, holy, is Yahweh of Armies! The whole earth is full of his glory!”
4 The foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.
5 Then I said, “Woe is me! For I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the King, Yahweh of Armies!”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar.
7 He touched my mouth with it, and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away, and your sin forgiven.”
8 I heard the Lord’s voice, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am. Send me!”
9 He said, “Go, and tell this people, ‘You hear indeed, but don’t understand. You see indeed, but don’t perceive.’
10 Make the heart of this people fat. Make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and turn again, and be healed.”
11 Then I said, “Lord, how long?” He answered, “Until cities are waste without inhabitant, houses without man, the land becomes utterly waste,
12 and Yahweh has removed men far away, and the forsaken places are many within the land.
13 If there is a tenth left in it, that also will in turn be consumed, as a terebinth, and as an oak whose stump remains when they are cut down, so the holy seed is its stump.”
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.
Source passages
Something to make together
These activities connect with the passage. Choose one that suits your group and the time you have.
