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64 Rip the heavens apart!
Come down, Lord;
    make the mountains tremble.
Be a spark that starts a fire
    causing water to boil.[a]
Then your enemies will know
    who you are;
all nations will tremble
    because you are nearby.

Your fearsome deeds
    have completely amazed us;
even the mountains shake
    when you come down.
(A) You are the only God
    ever seen or heard of
who works miracles
    for his followers.

You help all who gladly obey
and do what you want,
    but sin makes you angry.
Only by your help
    can we ever be saved.[b]
We are unfit to worship you;
each of our good deeds
    is merely a filthy rag.
We dry up like leaves;
our sins are storm winds
    sweeping us away.
No one worships in your name
    or remains faithful.
You have turned your back on us
and let our sins melt us away.[c]

You, Lord, are our Father.
    We are nothing but clay,
but you are the potter
    who molded us.
Don't be so furious
or keep our sins
    in your thoughts forever!
Remember that all of us
    are your people.
10 Every one of your towns
has turned into a desert,
    especially Jerusalem.
11 Zion's glorious and holy temple
where our ancestors praised you
    has been destroyed by fire.
Our beautiful buildings
    are now a pile of ruins.
12 When you see these things,
how can you just sit there
    and make us suffer more?

Footnotes

  1. 64.2 Be … boil: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  2. 64.5 saved: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 5.
  3. 64.7 and let … away: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.

64 [a]Oh, that you would rend the heavens(A) and come down,(B)
    that the mountains(C) would tremble before you!
As when fire sets twigs ablaze
    and causes water to boil,
come down to make your name(D) known to your enemies
    and cause the nations to quake(E) before you!
For when you did awesome(F) things that we did not expect,
    you came down, and the mountains trembled(G) before you.
Since ancient times no one has heard,
    no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any God besides you,(H)
    who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.(I)
You come to the help of those who gladly do right,(J)
    who remember your ways.
But when we continued to sin against them,
    you were angry.(K)
    How then can we be saved?
All of us have become like one who is unclean,(L)
    and all our righteous(M) acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,(N)
    and like the wind our sins sweep us away.(O)
No one(P) calls on your name(Q)
    or strives to lay hold of you;
for you have hidden(R) your face from us
    and have given us over(S) to[b] our sins.

Yet you, Lord, are our Father.(T)
    We are the clay, you are the potter;(U)
    we are all the work of your hand.(V)
Do not be angry(W) beyond measure, Lord;
    do not remember our sins(X) forever.
Oh, look on us, we pray,
    for we are all your people.(Y)
10 Your sacred cities(Z) have become a wasteland;
    even Zion is a wasteland, Jerusalem a desolation.(AA)
11 Our holy and glorious temple,(AB) where our ancestors praised you,
    has been burned with fire,
    and all that we treasured(AC) lies in ruins.
12 After all this, Lord, will you hold yourself back?(AD)
    Will you keep silent(AE) and punish us beyond measure?

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 64:1 In Hebrew texts 64:1 is numbered 63:19b, and 64:2-12 is numbered 64:1-11.
  2. Isaiah 64:7 Septuagint, Syriac and Targum; Hebrew have made us melt because of