Isaiah 64
The Message
Can We Be Saved?
64 1-7 Oh, that you would rip open the heavens and descend,
make the mountains shudder at your presence—
As when a forest catches fire,
as when fire makes a pot to boil—
To shock your enemies into facing you,
make the nations shake in their boots!
You did terrible things we never expected,
descended and made the mountains shudder at your presence.
Since before time began
no one has ever imagined,
No ear heard, no eye seen, a God like you
who works for those who wait for him.
You meet those who happily do what is right,
who keep a good memory of the way you work.
But how angry you’ve been with us!
We’ve sinned and kept at it so long!
Is there any hope for us? Can we be saved?
We’re all sin-infected, sin-contaminated.
Our best efforts are grease-stained rags.
We dry up like autumn leaves—
sin-dried, we’re blown off by the wind.
No one prays to you
or makes the effort to reach out to you
Because you’ve turned away from us,
left us to stew in our sins.
8-12 Still, God, you are our Father.
We’re the clay and you’re our potter:
All of us are what you made us.
Don’t be too angry with us, O God.
Don’t keep a permanent account of wrongdoing.
Keep in mind, please, we are your people—all of us.
Your holy cities are all ghost towns:
Zion’s a ghost town,
Jerusalem’s a field of weeds.
Our holy and beautiful Temple,
which our ancestors filled with your praises,
Was burned down by fire,
all our lovely parks and gardens in ruins.
In the face of all this,
are you going to sit there unmoved, God?
Aren’t you going to say something?
Haven’t you made us miserable long enough?
Isaiah 64
EasyEnglish Bible
Isaiah's prayer continues
64 Please Lord, break open the skies
and come down to help us!
That would make the mountains shake!
2 You would come like a fire that burns up wood,
and it causes water to boil.
The nations would shake with fear.
Your enemies would know why your name is so great.
3 In the past, you did great things,
and they surprised us.
You came down and the mountains shook with fear.
4 From the beginning, nobody has heard of any God like you.
You come to help those people who trust in you.
Nobody has ever seen or heard of a God like you!
5 You help people who are happy when they do what is right.
People like that obey your commands.
But we continued to do wrong things,
even when you were angry with us.
We have done bad things for a long time,
so will you ever come to save us?
6 Our sins have made us all like unclean people,
who cannot worship you.
Even the good things that we try to do
are like dirty bits of cloth.
Our sins will blow us all away,
as the wind blows away dead leaves.
7 Nobody prays in your name,
or calls out to you to help them.
It seems that you have turned away from us.
You have left us for our sins to rule us.
8 But Lord, you are still our Father.
We are like clay that you have used.
You are like the potter who has made us into pots.
You made us all with your own hands.
9 Lord, please do not be too angry with us.
Do not hold our sins in your mind for ever.
Do not forget us!
We are your people, all of us!
10 Your holy cities are as empty as a desert.
Yes, Zion has become a desert.
Jerusalem is just a heap of stones.
11 Our ancestors praised you
here in your temple.
It was a beautiful place that we were proud of.
But now fire has destroyed it.
All our beautiful things are completely spoiled.
12 Lord, see what is happening and do something!
Will you continue to keep quiet?
Will you continue to give us so much trouble?
Isaiah 64
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?
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
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