Isaiah 64
New American Standard Bible
Prayer for Mercy and Help
64 [a]Oh, that You would tear open the heavens and (A)come down,
That the mountains would (B)quake at Your presence—
2 [b]As fire kindles brushwood, as fire causes water to boil—
To make Your name known to Your adversaries,
That the (C)nations may tremble at Your presence!
3 When You did (D)awesome things which we did not expect,
You came down, the mountains quaked at Your presence.
4 For from days of old (E)they have not heard or perceived by ear,
Nor has the eye seen a God besides You,
Who acts in behalf of one who (F)waits for Him.
5 You (G)meet him who rejoices in (H)doing righteousness,
Who (I)remembers You in Your ways.
Behold, (J)You were angry, for we sinned,
We continued in [c]our sins for a long time;
Yet shall we be saved?
6 For all of us have become like one who is (K)unclean,
And all our (L)righteous deeds are like a filthy garment;
And all of us (M)wither like a leaf,
And our (N)wrongdoings, like the wind, take us away.
7 There is (O)no one who calls on Your name,
Who stirs himself to take hold of You;
For You have (P)hidden Your face from us
And have [d]surrendered us to the power of our wrongdoings.
8 But now, Lord, (Q)You are our Father;
We are the (R)clay, and You our potter,
And all of us are the (S)work of Your hand.
9 Do not be (T)angry beyond measure, Lord,
(U)Nor remember wrongdoing forever.
Behold, please look, all of us are (V)Your people.
10 Your (W)holy cities have become a (X)wilderness,
Zion has become a wilderness,
Jerusalem a desolation.
11 Our holy and beautiful (Y)house,
Where our fathers praised You,
Has been burned by fire;
And (Z)all our precious things have become a ruin.
12 Will You (AA)restrain Yourself at these things, Lord?
Will You keep silent and afflict us beyond measure?
Footnotes
- Isaiah 64:1 Ch 63:19b in Heb
- Isaiah 64:2 Ch 64:1 in Heb
- Isaiah 64:5 Lit them
- Isaiah 64:7 As in DSS and ancient versions; MT melted
Isaiah 64
Expanded Bible
64 If only you would tear open the ·skies [heavens] and come down to earth
so that the mountains would ·tremble [shake] before you.
2 Like a fire that ·burns [kindles; ignites] ·twigs [dry wood],
like a fire that makes water boil,
let your ·enemies [adversaries] know ·who you are [L your name].
Then all nations will shake with fear ·when they see you [before you].
3 You have done amazing things ·we did not expect [beyond our expectations].
You came down, and the mountains trembled before you.
4 From ·long ago [ancient times; of old] no ·one [L ear] has ever heard of a God like you.
No ·one [L eye] has ever seen a God besides you,
who ·helps [acts on behalf of] the people who ·trust [wait for] you.
5 You help those who ·enjoy doing good [joyfully act righteously],
who remember ·how you want them to live [L your ways/paths].
·But [L Look; T Behold] you were angry because we sinned.
For a long time we disobeyed,
so how can we be saved?
6 All of us ·are dirty with sin [became like an unclean/defiled thing].
All ·the right things we have done [our righteous deeds] are like ·filthy pieces of cloth [filthy garments/rags; or a menstrual cloth; 30:22].
All of us ·are [fade; shrivel] like dead leaves,
and our ·sins [iniquities], like the wind, have carried us away.
7 No one ·worships you [L calls on your name]
or ·even asks you to help us [L rouses himself to lay hold of you].
That is because you have ·turned away [hidden your face] from us
and have ·let our sins destroy us [given us over to our sins].[a]
8 But Lord, you are our father.
We are like clay, and you are the potter;
your hands made us all.
9 Lord, don’t continue to be angry with us;
don’t remember our sins forever.
Please, look at us,
because we are your people.
10 Your holy cities ·are empty like the desert [have become a wilderness/wasteland].
·Jerusalem [L Zion; C the location of the Temple] is like a ·desert [wilderness; wasteland];
it is ·destroyed [a desolation].
11 Our ancestors worshiped you
in our holy and wonderful Temple,
but now it has been burned with fire,
and all our ·precious [treasured; pleasant] things have ·been destroyed [become ruins].
12 ·When you see these things [After this], will you hold yourself back from helping us, Lord?
Will you be silent and punish us beyond ·what we can stand [measure]?
Footnotes
- Isaiah 64:7 let our sins destroy us Greek, Syriac, and Aramaic copies read “given us over to our sins.” Hebrew copies read “caused us to melt in the hand of our sin.”
Isaiah 64
New King James Version
A Prayer for Help
64 Oh, that You would [a]rend the heavens!
That You would come down!
That the mountains might shake at Your (A)presence—
2 As fire burns brushwood,
As fire causes water to boil—
To make Your name known to Your adversaries,
That the nations may tremble at Your presence!
3 When (B)You did awesome things for which we did not look,
You came down,
The mountains shook at Your presence.
4 For since the beginning of the world
(C)Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear,
Nor has the eye seen any God besides You,
Who acts for the one who waits for Him.
5 You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness,
Who remembers You in Your ways.
You are indeed angry, for we have sinned—
(D)In these ways we continue;
And we need to be saved.
6 But we are all like an unclean thing,
And all (E)our righteousnesses are like [b]filthy rags;
We all (F)fade as a leaf,
And our iniquities, like the wind,
Have taken us away.
7 And there is no one who calls on Your name,
Who stirs himself up to take hold of You;
For You have hidden Your face from us,
And have [c]consumed us because of our iniquities.
8 But now, O Lord,
You are our Father;
We are the clay, and You our (G)potter;
And all we are the work of Your hand.
9 Do not be furious, O Lord,
Nor remember iniquity forever;
Indeed, please look—we all are Your people!
10 Your holy cities are a wilderness,
Zion is a wilderness,
Jerusalem a desolation.
11 Our holy and beautiful [d]temple,
Where our fathers praised You,
Is burned up with fire;
And all (H)our pleasant things [e]are laid waste.
12 (I)Will You restrain Yourself because of these things, O Lord?
(J)Will You [f]hold Your peace, and afflict us very severely?
Footnotes
- Isaiah 64:1 tear open
- Isaiah 64:6 Lit. a filthy garment
- Isaiah 64:7 Lit. caused us to melt
- Isaiah 64:11 Lit. house
- Isaiah 64:11 have become a ruin
- Isaiah 64:12 keep silent
Isaiah 64
International Standard Version
A Prayer for God to Intervene
64 [a]If only you would tear open the heavens and[b] come down,
so that the mountains would quake at your presence—
2 [c]just as fire sets twigs[d] ablaze
and the fire causes water to boil—
to make known your name to your enemies,
yes, to your enemies before you,[e]
so that the nations might quake at your presence!
3 When you did awesome deeds that we expected,[f]
you came down,
and the mountains shuddered before you.
4 Since[g] ancient times no one has heard,
and[h] no ear has perceived,
and[i] no eye has seen any God besides you,
who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.
5 You come to the aid of those who gladly do what’s right,
To those who remember you in your ways.
See, you were angry,
and we sinned against them for a long time,
but we will be saved.
6 All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and[j] all our righteous acts are like a filthy rag;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
and like the wind, our iniquities[k] sweep us away.
7 There is no one who calls on your name
or rouses himself to take hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us,
and have given us[l] into the control[m] of our iniquity.
God, our Father, will Act
8 But as for you,[n] O Lord, you are our Father;
and[o] we are clay,[p]
and you are our potter;
we are all the work of your hands.[q]
9 Don’t be angry beyond measure, Lord,
and don’t remember our iniquity for a season.[r]
Please look now, we are all your people.
10 Your holy cities have become a desert;
Zion has become like[s] a desert,
Jerusalem a desolation.
11 Our holy Temple and our splendor,
where our ancestors praised you,
have become[t] a conflagration of fire,
and all our dearest places have become[u] ruins.
12 Lord, after all this, can you hold yourself back?
Can you keep silent and punish us so severely?
Footnotes
- Isaiah 64:1 This v. is 63:19 in the MT
- Isaiah 64:1 So 1QIsaa; MT lacks and
- Isaiah 64:2 This v. is 64:1 in the MT
- Isaiah 64:2 Or brushwood
- Isaiah 64:2 So 1QIsaa LXX; MT reads to make your name known to your adversaries
- Isaiah 64:3 So 1QIsaa; MT reads did not expect
- Isaiah 64:4 So 1QIsaa LXX; MT reads And since
- Isaiah 64:4 So 1QIsaa; MT lacks and
- Isaiah 64:4 So 1QIsaa LXX; MT lacks and
- Isaiah 64:6 So 1QIsaa 4QIsab LXX; MT lacks and
- Isaiah 64:6 The 1QIsaa utilizes a masculine noun; 1QIsab MT utilize a feminine noun
- Isaiah 64:7 So 1QIsaa; MT reads have melted us; LXX reads have delivered us
- Isaiah 64:7 Lit. hand
- Isaiah 64:8 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX read But now
- Isaiah 64:8 So 1QIsaa LXX; MT lacks and
- Isaiah 64:8 So 1QIsaa LXX; 1QIsab MT read the clay
- Isaiah 64:8 So 1QIsaa LXX; MT reads your hand
- Isaiah 64:9 So 1QIsaa LXX; MT reads for ever
- Isaiah 64:10 So 1QIsaa LXX; 1QIsab MT lack like
- Isaiah 64:11 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX read Our holy and glorious Temple … has become
- Isaiah 64:11 So 1QIsaa LXX; MT reads all our dearest places has become; MTmss read our every dearest place has become
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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