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64 [a] Would that you would tear the heavens and come down;
    the mountains would quake before you,
[b] as fire kindles brushwood,
    the fire causes water to boil,
to make your name known to your adversaries,
    that the nations might tremble from your presence.[c]
When you did terrible deeds which we did not expect,[d] you came down;
    the mountains quaked because of your presence.[e]
And since ancient times they have not heard,
    have not listened,
no eye has seen a God except you;
    he acts[f] for the one who waits for him.
You meet with the one who rejoices,
    one who does righteousness.
In your ways they remember you.
    Look! You were angry and we sinned against them in ancient times and we were saved.
And we all have become like the unclean,
    and all our deeds of justice like a menstrual cloth,
And we all wither like a leaf,
    and our iniquities take us away like the wind.
And there is no one who calls on your name,
    who pulls himself up to keep hold of you,
for you have hidden your face from us,[g]
    and melted us into the hand of our iniquity.
Yet now Yahweh, you are our father;
    we are the clay and you are our potter,[h]
    and we all are the work of your hand.
You must not be exceedingly angry, Yahweh,
    and you must not remember iniquity forever!

Look! Behold, now! We all are your people!

10 Your holy cities[i] have become a wilderness;
    Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.
11 Our holy and beautiful temple,[j] where our ancestors[k] praised you has been burned[l] by fire,
    and all our precious objects have become ruins.[m]
12 Will you control yourself because of these, Yahweh?
    Will you be silent?
        And will you oppress us exceedingly?

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 64:1 Isaiah 64:1 in the English Bible begins here. In the Hebrew Bible, 63:19 continues
  2. Isaiah 64:2 Isaiah 64:2–12 in the English Bible is 64:1–11 in the Hebrew Bible
  3. Isaiah 64:2 Literally “face”
  4. Isaiah 64:3 Literally “await”
  5. Isaiah 64:3 Literally “face”
  6. Isaiah 64:4 Literally “makes”
  7. Isaiah 64:7 Or “him”
  8. Isaiah 64:8 Literally “one who fashions”
  9. Isaiah 64:10 Literally “The cities of your holiness”
  10. Isaiah 64:11 Literally “the house of our holiness and our beauty”
  11. Isaiah 64:11 Or “fathers”
  12. Isaiah 64:11 Literally “been for burning”
  13. Isaiah 64:11 Hebrew “ruin”

64 (A)Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down,
    (B)that the mountains might quake at your presence—
[a] as when fire kindles brushwood
    and the fire causes water to boil—
(C)to make your name known to your adversaries,
    and that the nations might tremble at your presence!
(D)When you did awesome things that we did not look for,
    you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.
(E)From of old no one has heard
    or perceived by the ear,
(F)no eye has seen a God besides you,
    who acts for those who wait for him.
You meet him who joyfully works righteousness,
    those who remember you in your ways.
Behold, you were angry, and we sinned;
    in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved?[b]
(G)We have all become like one who is unclean,
    and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
(H)We all fade like a leaf,
    and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
(I)There is no one who calls upon your name,
    who rouses himself to take hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us,
    and have made us melt in[c] the hand of our iniquities.

(J)But now, O Lord, you are our Father;
    (K)we are the clay, and you are our potter;
    (L)we are all the work of your hand.
(M)Be not so terribly angry, O Lord,
    (N)and remember not iniquity forever.
    Behold, please look, we are all your people.
10 (O)Your holy cities have become a wilderness;
    Zion has become a wilderness,
    Jerusalem a desolation.
11 (P)Our holy and beautiful[d] house,
    where our fathers praised you,
has been burned by fire,
    and all our pleasant places have become ruins.
12 (Q)Will you restrain yourself at these things, O Lord?
    Will you keep silent, and afflict us so terribly?

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 64:2 Ch 64:1 in Hebrew
  2. Isaiah 64:5 Or in your ways is continuance, that we might be saved
  3. Isaiah 64:7 Masoretic Text; Septuagint, Syriac, Targum have delivered us into
  4. Isaiah 64:11 Or holy and glorious