Isaiah 6:5

Then I said: “Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips dwelling among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Hosts.”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Isaiah speaks in the temple vision, having just seen the Lord enthroned (v.1–3) and heard the seraphim's cry (v.3). His cry is a spontaneous, unaddressed outburst, not a petition directed at any figure.

The words — נִדְמֵיתִי (nidme'ti, "I am cut off, destroyed") carries the sense of being severed, not merely sad; it is a rare Qal form of נדמ that conveys a final, irreversible ruin rather than a temporary setback.

The thread — The same pattern—human inadequacy exposed by divine presence—appears in Peter's "I am a sinful man" (Luke 5:8) and Jeremiah's "I do not know how to speak" (Jeremiah 1:6); James 3:6 supplies the mechanism by which the tongue becomes the seat of uncleanness Isaiah names.

Why it lands — The verse forces the reader to name their own moral state in the same blunt terms before any comfort arrives; the coal that cleanses (v.6) comes only after the diagnosis is accepted, not instead of it.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

King James Version

Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.

Cross-references

Luke 5:8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees. “Go away from me, Lord,” he said, “for I am a sinful man.”
James 3:6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of wickedness among the parts of the body. It pollutes the whole person, sets the course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
Jeremiah 1:6 “Ah, Lord GOD,” I said, “I surely do not know how to speak, for I am only a child!”
Jeremiah 9:3 “They bend their tongues like bows; lies prevail over truth in the land. For they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not take Me into account,” declares the LORD.
Matthew 12:34 You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.
Exodus 6:30 But in the LORD’s presence Moses replied, “Since I am unskilled in speech, why would Pharaoh listen to me?”
Exodus 4:10 “Please, Lord,” Moses replied, “I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since You have spoken to Your servant, for I am slow of speech and tongue.”
Isaiah 29:13 Therefore the Lord said: “These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is but rules taught by men.
Ezekiel 2:6 But you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns surround you, and you dwell among scorpions. Do not be afraid of their words or dismayed by their presence, though they are a rebellious house.
Exodus 6:12 But in the LORD’s presence Moses replied, “If the Israelites will not listen to me, then why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I am unskilled in speech?”