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 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
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New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
