⁶ But we are all like an unclean thing,
And all ^(A)our righteousnesses are like ^[a]filthy rags;
We all ^(B)fade as a leaf,
And our iniquities, like the wind,
Have taken us away.
⁷ And 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 ^[b]consumed us because of our iniquities.

⁸ But now, O Lord,
You are our Father;
We are the clay, and You our ^(C)potter;
And all we are the work of Your hand.
⁹ Do not be furious, O Lord,
Nor remember iniquity forever;
Indeed, please look—we all are Your people!
¹⁰ Your holy cities are a wilderness,
Zion is a wilderness,
Jerusalem a desolation.
¹¹ Our holy and beautiful ^[c]temple,
Where our fathers praised You,
Is burned up with fire;
And all ^(D)our pleasant things ^[d]are laid waste.
^12 (E)Will You restrain Yourself because of these things, O Lord?
^(F)Will You ^[e]hold Your peace, and afflict us very severely?

⁹ “Woe to him who strives with ^(A)his Maker!
Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth!
^(B)Shall the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’
Or shall your handiwork say, ‘He has no hands’?
¹⁰ Woe to him who says to his father, ‘What are you begetting?’
Or to the woman, ‘What have you brought forth?’ ”

¹¹ Thus says the Lord,
The Holy One of Israel, and his Maker:
^(C)“Ask Me of things to come concerning ^(D)My sons;
And concerning ^(E)the work of My hands, you command Me.
^12 (F)I have made the earth,
And ^(G)created man on it.
I—My hands—stretched out the heavens,
And ^(H)all their host I have commanded.
^13 (I)I have raised him up in righteousness,
And I will ^[a]direct all his ways;
He shall ^(J)build My city
And let My exiles go free,
^(K)Not for price nor reward,”
Says the Lord of hosts.