Isaiah 64
World English Bible
64 Oh that you would tear the heavens,
that you would come down,
that the mountains might quake at your presence.
2 As when fire kindles the brushwood,
and the fire causes the water to boil;
Make your name known to your adversaries,
that the nations may tremble at your presence!
3 When you did awesome things which we didn’t look for,
you came down, and the mountains quaked at your presence.
4 For from of old men have not heard,
nor perceived by the ear,
nor has the eye seen a God besides you,
who works for him who waits for him.
5 You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness,
those who remember you in your ways.
Behold, you were angry, and we sinned.
We have been in sin for a long time.
Shall we be saved?
6 For we have all become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteousness is like a polluted garment.
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,
who stirs himself up to take hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us,
and have consumed us by means of our iniquities.
8 But now, Yahweh, you are our Father.
We are the clay and you our potter.
We all are the work of your hand.
9 Don’t be furious, Yahweh.
Don’t remember iniquity forever.
Look and see, we beg you,
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 our beautiful house where our fathers praised you
is burned with fire.
All our pleasant places are laid waste.
12 Will you hold yourself back for these things, Yahweh?
Will you keep silent and punish us very severely?
Isaiah 64
Common English Bible
64 [a] If only you would tear open the heavens and come down!
Mountains would quake before you
2 like fire igniting brushwood or making water boil.
[b] If you would make your name known to your enemies,
the nations would tremble in your presence.
3 When you accomplished wonders beyond all our expectations;
when you came down, mountains quaked before you.
4 From ancient times,
no one has heard,
no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any god but you
who acts on behalf of those who wait for him![c]
5 You look after those who gladly do right;
they will praise you for your ways.[d]
But you were angry when we sinned;
you hid yourself when we did wrong.[e]
6 We have all become like the unclean;
all our righteous deeds are like a menstrual rag.
All of us wither like a leaf;
our sins, like the wind, carry us away.
7 No one calls on your name;
no one bothers to hold on to you,
for you have hidden yourself from us,
and have handed us over[f] to our sin.
8 But now, Lord, you are our father.
We are the clay, and you are our potter.
All of us are the work of your hand.
9 Don’t rage so fiercely, Lord;
don’t hold our sins against us forever,
but gaze now on your people, all of us:
10 Your holy cities have become a wilderness;
Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a wasteland.
11 Our holy, glorious house,
where our ancestors praised you,
has gone up in flames;
all that we treasured has become a ruin.
12 After all this, will you hold back, Lord?
Will you keep silent and torment us so terribly?
Footnotes
- Isaiah 64:1 63:19b in Heb
- Isaiah 64:2 64:1 in Heb
- Isaiah 64:4 Heb uncertain
- Isaiah 64:5 Heb uncertain
- Isaiah 64:5 Heb uncertain
- Isaiah 64:7 LXX, cf Syr, Tg, Vulg; MT melted
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