Is 6:8-13

8Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?” “Here I am,” I said; “send me!” 9^* And he replied: Go and say to this people:

Listen carefully, but do not understand!

Look intently, but do not perceive!^f

10Make the heart of this people sluggish,

dull their ears and close their eyes;

Lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears,

and their heart understand,

and they turn and be healed.^g

11“How long, O Lord?” I asked. And he replied:

^* Until the cities are desolate,

without inhabitants,

Houses, without people,

and the land is a desolate waste.

12Until the LORD sends the people far away,

and great is the desolation in the midst of the land.

13If there remain a tenth part in it,

then this in turn shall be laid waste;

As with a terebinth or an oak

whose trunk remains when its leaves have fallen.^{* h}

Holy offspring is the trunk.