Isaiah 64
New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
64 O that you would tear open the heavens and come down,
so that the mountains would quake at your presence—
2 [a] as when fire kindles brushwood
and the fire causes water to boil—
to make your name known to your adversaries,
so that the nations might tremble at your presence!
3 When you did awesome deeds that we did not expect,
you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.
4 From ages past no one has heard,
no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any God besides you,
who works for those who wait for him.
5 You meet those who gladly do right,
those who remember you in your ways.
But you were angry, and we sinned;
because you hid yourself we transgressed.[b]
6 We have all become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth.
We all fade like a leaf,
and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
7 There is no one who calls on your name,
or attempts to take hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us,
and have delivered[c] us into the hand of our iniquity.
8 Yet, O Lord, you are our Father;
we are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the work of your hand.
9 Do not be exceedingly angry, O Lord,
and do not remember iniquity forever.
Now consider, we are all your people.
10 Your holy cities have become a wilderness,
Zion has become a wilderness,
Jerusalem a desolation.
11 Our holy and beautiful house,
where our ancestors praised you,
has been burned by fire,
and all our pleasant places have become ruins.
12 After all this, will you restrain yourself, O Lord?
Will you keep silent, and punish us so severely?
Footnotes
- Isaiah 64:2 Ch 64.1 in Heb
- Isaiah 64:5 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- Isaiah 64:7 Gk Syr Old Latin Tg: Heb melted
Isaiah 64
Authorized (King James) Version
64 Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens,
that thou wouldest come down,
that the mountains might flow down at thy presence,
2 as when the melting fire burneth,
the fire causeth the waters to boil,
to make thy name known to thine adversaries,
that the nations may tremble at thy presence!
3 When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for,
thou camest down,
the mountains flowed down at thy presence.
4 For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear,
neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee,
what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.
5 Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness,
those that remember thee in thy ways:
behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned:
in those is continuance, and we shall be saved.
6 But we are all as an unclean thing,
and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags;
and we all do fade as a leaf;
and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
7 And there is none that calleth upon thy name,
that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee:
for thou hast hid thy face from us,
and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.
8 But now, O Lord, thou art our father;
we are the clay, and thou our potter;
and we all are the work of thy hand.
9 Be not wroth very sore, O Lord,
neither remember iniquity for ever:
behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people.
10 Thy holy cities are a wilderness,
Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.
11 Our holy and our beautiful house,
where our fathers praised thee,
is burned up with fire:
and all our pleasant things are laid waste.
12 Wilt thou refrain thyself for these things, O Lord?
wilt thou hold thy peace, and afflict us very sore?
Isaiah 64
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 64
1 As when brushwood is set ablaze,
or fire makes the water boil!
Then your name would be made known to your enemies
and the nations would tremble before you,
2 While you worked awesome deeds we could not hope for,[a]
3 such as had not been heard of from of old.
No ear has ever heard, no eye ever seen,
any God but you
working such deeds for those who wait for him.(A)
4 Would that you might meet us doing right,
that we might be mindful of you in our ways!
Indeed, you are angry; we have sinned,
we have acted wickedly.
5 We have all become like something unclean,
all our just deeds are like polluted rags;
We have all withered like leaves,
and our crimes carry us away like the wind.(B)
6 There are none who call upon your name,
none who rouse themselves to take hold of you;
For you have hidden your face from us
and have delivered us up to our crimes.
A Final Plea
7 [b]Yet, Lord, you are our father;
we are the clay and you our potter:
we are all the work of your hand.
8 Do not be so very angry, Lord,
do not remember our crimes forever;
look upon us, who are all your people!
9 Your holy cities have become a wilderness;
Zion has become wilderness, Jerusalem desolation!(C)
10 Our holy and glorious house
in which our ancestors praised you
Has been burned with fire;
all that was dear to us is laid waste.
11 Can you hold back, Lord, after all this?
Can you remain silent, and afflict us so severely?
Footnotes
- 64:2 The translation here omits some words repeated in the Hebrew from 63:19 (“would that you would come down, with the mountains trembling before you”).
- 64:7–11 The motifs of father (63:16) and creator (clay and potter, 29:16; 45:9) are adduced to move the Lord to action in view of the damage done to his “holy cities” and “glorious house.”
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
KJV reproduced by permission of Cambridge University Press, the Crown’s patentee in the UK.
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