Isaiah 64
New English Translation
64 (63:19b)[a] If only you would tear apart the sky[b] and come down!
The mountains would tremble[c] before you!
2 (64:1) As when fire ignites dry wood,
or fire makes water boil,
let your adversaries know who you are,[d]
and may the nations shake at your presence!
3 When you performed awesome deeds that took us by surprise,[e]
you came down, and the mountains trembled[f] before you.
4 Since ancient times no one has heard or perceived,[g]
no eye has seen any God besides you,
who intervenes for those who wait for him.
5 You assist[h] those who delight in doing what is right,[i]
who observe your commandments.[j]
Look, you were angry because we violated them continually.
How then can we be saved?[k]
6 We are all like one who is unclean,
all our so-called righteous acts are like a menstrual rag in your sight.[l]
We all wither like a leaf;
our sins carry us away like the wind.
7 No one invokes[m] your name,
or makes an effort[n] to take hold of you.
For you have rejected us[o]
and handed us over to our own sins.[p]
8 Yet,[q] Lord, you are our father.
We are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the product of your labor.[r]
9 Lord, do not be too angry!
Do not hold our sins against us continually.[s]
Take a good look at your people, at all of us.[t]
10 Your chosen[u] cities have become a wilderness;
Zion has become a wilderness,
Jerusalem, a desolate ruin.
11 Our holy temple, our pride and joy,[v]
the place where our ancestors praised you,
has been burned with fire;
all our prized possessions have been destroyed.[w]
12 In light of all this,[x] how can you still hold back, Lord?
How can you be silent and continue to humiliate us?
Footnotes
- Isaiah 64:1 sn In BHS the chapter division occurs in a different place from the English Bible: 64:1 ET (63:19b HT) and 64:2-12 (64:1-11 HT). Beginning with 65:1 the verse numbers in the English Bible and the Hebrew Bible are again the same.
- Isaiah 64:1 tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.
- Isaiah 64:1 tn Or “quake.” נָזֹלּוּ (nazollu) is from the verbal root זָלַל (zalal, “quake”; see HALOT 272 s.v. II זלל). Perhaps there is a verbal allusion to Judg 5:5, the only other passage where this verb occurs. In that passage the poet tells how the Lord’s appearance to do battle caused the mountains to shake.
- Isaiah 64:2 tn Heb “to make known your name to your adversaries.” Perhaps the infinitive construct with preposition לְ (lamed) should be construed with “come down” in v. 1a, or subordinated to the following line: “To make known your name to your adversaries, let the nations shake from before you.”
- Isaiah 64:3 tn Heb “[for which] we were not waiting.”
- Isaiah 64:3 tn See the note at v. 1.
- Isaiah 64:4 tn Heb “from ancient times they have not heard, they have not listened.”
- Isaiah 64:5 tn Heb “meet [with kindness].”
- Isaiah 64:5 tn Heb “the one who rejoices and does righteousness.”
- Isaiah 64:5 tn Heb “in your ways they remember you.”
- Isaiah 64:5 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “look, you were angry, and we sinned against them continually [or perhaps, “in ancient times”] and we were delivered.” The statement makes little sense as it stands. The first vav [ו] consecutive (“and we sinned”) must introduce an explanatory clause here (see Num 1:48 and Isa 39:1 for other examples of this relatively rare use of the vav [ו] consecutive). The final verb (if rendered positively) makes no sense in this context—God’s anger at their sin resulted in judgment, not deliverance. One of the alternatives involves an emendation to וַנִּרְשָׁע (vannirshaʿ, “and we were evil”; LXX, NRSV, TEV). The Vulgate and the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa support the MT reading. One can either accept an emendation or cast the statement as a question (as above).
- Isaiah 64:6 tn Heb “and like a garment of menstruation [are] all our righteous acts”; KJV, NIV “filthy rags”; ASV “a polluted garment.”
- Isaiah 64:7 tn Or “calls out in”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “calls on.”
- Isaiah 64:7 tn Or “rouses himself”; NASB “arouses himself.”
- Isaiah 64:7 tn Heb “for you have hidden your face from us.”
- Isaiah 64:7 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “and you caused us to melt in the hand of our sin.” The verb וַתְּמוּגֵנוּ (vattemugenu) is a Qal preterite second person masculine singular with a first person common plural suffix from the root מוּג (mug, “melt”). However, elsewhere the Qal of this verb is intransitive. If the verbal root מוּג (mug) is retained here, the form should be emended to a Polel pattern (וַתְּמֹגְגֵנוּ, vattemogegenu). The translation assumes an emendation to וַתְּמַגְּנֵנוּ (vattemaggenenu, “and you handed us over”). This form is a Piel preterite second person masculine singular with a first person common plural suffix from the verb מָגָן (magan, “hand over, surrender”; see HALOT 545 s.v. מגן and BDB 171 s.v. מָגָן). The point is that God has abandoned them to their sinful ways and no longer seeks reconciliation.
- Isaiah 64:8 tn On the force of וְעַתָּה (veʿattah) here, see HALOT 902 s.v. עַתָּה.
- Isaiah 64:8 tn Heb “the work of your hand.”
- Isaiah 64:9 tn Heb “do not remember sin continually.”
- Isaiah 64:9 tn Heb “Look, gaze at your people, all of us.” Another option is to translate, “Take a good look! We are all your people.”
- Isaiah 64:10 tn Heb “holy” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV, NLT); NIV “sacred.”
- Isaiah 64:11 tn Heb “our source of pride.”
- Isaiah 64:11 tn Or “all that we valued has become a ruin.”
- Isaiah 64:12 tn Heb “because of these”; KJV, ASV “for these things.”
以賽亞書 64
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Traditional)
64 願你裂天而降！
願群山在你面前戰抖！
2 求你使敵人認識你的威名，
使列國在你面前顫抖，
如火燒乾柴使水沸騰。
3 你曾降臨，行超乎我們預料的可畏之事，
那時群山在你面前戰抖。
4 自古以來，從未見過，
也未聽過有任何神明像你一樣為信奉他的人行奇事。
5 你眷顧樂於行義、遵行你旨意的人。
我們不斷地犯罪惹你發怒，
我們怎能得救呢？
6 我們的善行不過像骯髒的衣服，
我們都像污穢的人，
像漸漸枯乾的葉子，
我們的罪惡像風一樣把我們吹去。
7 無人呼求你，
無人向你求助，
因為你掩面不理我們，
讓我們在自己的罪中滅亡。
8 但耶和華啊，你是我們的父親。
我們是陶泥，你是窯匠，
你親手造了我們。
9 耶和華啊，求你不要大發烈怒，
不要永遠記著我們的罪惡。
我們都是你的子民，
求你垂顧我們。
10 你的眾聖城已淪為荒場，
甚至錫安已淪為荒場，
耶路撒冷已淪為廢墟。
11 我們那聖潔、華美的殿——我們祖先頌讚你的地方已被焚毀，
我們珍愛的一切都被摧毀。
12 耶和華啊，你怎能坐視不理呢？
你仍然保持緘默，使我們重重地受罰嗎？
Isaiah 64
New King James Version
A Prayer for Help
64 Oh, that You would [a]rend the heavens!
That You would come down!
That the mountains might shake at Your (A)presence—
2 As fire burns brushwood,
As fire causes water to boil—
To make Your name known to Your adversaries,
That the nations may tremble at Your presence!
3 When (B)You did awesome things for which we did not look,
You came down,
The mountains shook at Your presence.
4 For since the beginning of the world
(C)Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear,
Nor has the eye seen any God besides You,
Who acts for the one who waits for Him.
5 You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness,
Who remembers You in Your ways.
You are indeed angry, for we have sinned—
(D)In these ways we continue;
And we need to be saved.
6 But we are all like an unclean thing,
And all (E)our righteousnesses are like [b]filthy rags;
We all (F)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 [c]consumed us because of our iniquities.
8 But now, O Lord,
You are our Father;
We are the clay, and You our (G)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 [d]temple,
Where our fathers praised You,
Is burned up with fire;
And all (H)our pleasant things [e]are laid waste.
12 (I)Will You restrain Yourself because of these things, O Lord?
(J)Will You [f]hold Your peace, and afflict us very severely?
Footnotes
- Isaiah 64:1 tear open
- Isaiah 64:6 Lit. a filthy garment
- Isaiah 64:7 Lit. caused us to melt
- Isaiah 64:11 Lit. house
- Isaiah 64:11 have become a ruin
- Isaiah 64:12 keep silent
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
