Isaiah 64
Good News Translation
64 Why don't you tear the sky open and come down? The mountains would see you and shake with fear. 2 They would tremble like water boiling over a hot fire. Come and reveal your power to your enemies, and make the nations tremble at your presence! 3 There was a time when you came and did terrifying things that we did not expect; the mountains saw you and shook with fear. 4 (A)No one has ever seen or heard of a God like you, who does such deeds for those who put their hope in him. 5 You welcome those who find joy in doing what is right, those who remember how you want them to live. You were angry with us, but we went on sinning; in spite of your great anger we have continued to do wrong since ancient times.[a] 6 All of us have been sinful; even our best actions are filthy through and through. Because of our sins we are like leaves that wither and are blown away by the wind. 7 No one turns to you in prayer; no one goes to you for help. You have hidden yourself from us and have abandoned[b] us because of our sins.
8 But you are our father, Lord. We are like clay, and you are like the potter. You created us, 9 so do not be too angry with us or hold our sins against us forever. We are your people; be merciful to us. 10 Your sacred cities are like a desert; Jerusalem is a deserted ruin, 11 and our Temple, the sacred and beautiful place where our ancestors praised you, has been destroyed by fire. All the places we loved are in ruins. 12 Lord, are you unmoved by all this? Are you going to do nothing and make us suffer more than we can endure?
Footnotes
- Isaiah 64:5 Probable text in spite of … ancient times; Hebrew unclear.
- Isaiah 64:7 Some ancient translations abandoned; Hebrew melted.
Isaiah 64
Christian Standard Bible
64 If only you would tear the heavens open
and come down,(A)
so that mountains would quake at your presence(B)—
2 just as fire kindles brushwood,
and fire boils water—
to make your name known to your enemies,
so that nations would tremble at your presence!
3 When you did awesome works(C)
that we did not expect,
you came down,(D)
and the mountains quaked at your presence.
4 From ancient times no one has heard,
no one has listened to,
no eye has seen any God except you
who acts on behalf of the one who waits for him.(E)
5 You welcome the one who joyfully does what is right;
they remember you in your ways.
But we have sinned, and you were angry.
How can we be saved if we remain in our sins?[a]
6 All of us have become like something unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like a polluted[b] garment;(F)
all of us wither like a leaf,(G)
and our iniquities(H) carry us away like the wind.
7 No one calls on your name,
striving to take hold of you.
For you have hidden your face from us(I)
and made us melt because of[c][d] our iniquity.
8 Yet Lord, you are our Father;(J)
we are the clay, and you are our potter;
we all are the work of your hands.(K)
9 Lord, do not be terribly angry
or remember our iniquity forever.(L)
Please look—all of us are your people!
10 Your holy cities have become a wilderness;
Zion has become a wilderness,
Jerusalem a desolation.(M)
11 Our holy and beautiful[e] temple,
where our ancestors praised you,
has been burned down,
and all that was dear to us lies in ruins.(N)
12 Lord, after all this, will you restrain yourself?
Will you keep silent and afflict us severely?(O)
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.