Isaiah 6:1–13.
This week's haftorah discusses Isaiah’s vision of the Heavenly Chariot (the merkavah), a revelation that was experienced by all the Israelites when G‑d spoke the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai—an event recounted in this week’s Torah reading.
Isaiah perceives G‑d sitting on a throne surrounded by angels. Isaiah vividly describes the angels and their behavior (in anthropomorphic terms). During the course of this vision, Isaiah volunteers to be G‑d’s emissary to transmit His message to the Israelites. He is immediately given a depressing prophecy regarding the exile the nation will suffer as punishment for their many sins—and the Land of Israel will be left empty and desolate, though there will be left a “trunk” of the Jewish people that eventually will regrow.
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