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64 Oh, that You would rend the heavens and come down,
    that the mountains might shake at Your presence,
as when the melting fire burns,
    as the fire causes the waters to boil,
to make Your name known to Your adversaries,
    that the nations may tremble at Your presence!
When You did awesome things for which we did not look,
    You came down; the mountains quaked at Your presence.
For since the beginning of the world men have not heard,
    nor perceived by ear,
neither has the eye seen a God besides You,
    who acts for the one who waits for Him.
You meet him who rejoices in doing righteousness,
    those who remember You in Your ways.
Indeed, You were angry, for we had sinned;
    in our sins we remained a long time,
    and shall we be saved?
But we all are as an unclean thing,
    and all our righteousness is as filthy rags;
and we all fade as a leaf,
    and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
There is no one who calls on Your name,
    who stirs up himself to take hold of You;
for You have hidden Your face from us
    and have consumed us because of our iniquities.

But now, O Lord, You are our Father;
    we are the clay, and You are our potter;
    and we all are the work of Your hand.
Do not be wrathful beyond measure, O Lord,
    nor remember iniquity forever;
look upon us, we pray,
    we all are Your people.
10 Your holy cities are a wilderness;
    Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.
11 Our holy and beautiful house where our fathers praised You
    is burned up with fire;
    and all our precious things are laid waste.
12 Will You refrain Yourself from these things, O Lord?
    Will You hold Your peace and afflict us beyond measure?

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”