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
Isaiah 64
English Standard Version
64 (A)Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down,
(B)that the mountains might quake at your presence—
2 [a] as when fire kindles brushwood
and the fire causes water to boil—
(C)to make your name known to your adversaries,
and that the nations might tremble at your presence!
3 (D)When you did awesome things that we did not look for,
you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.
4 (E)From of old no one has heard
or perceived by the ear,
(F)no eye has seen a God besides you,
who acts for those who wait for him.
5 You meet him who joyfully works righteousness,
those who remember you in your ways.
Behold, you were angry, and we sinned;
in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved?[b]
6 (G)We have all become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
(H)We all fade like a leaf,
and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
7 (I)There is no one who calls upon your name,
who rouses himself to take hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us,
and have made us melt in[c] the hand of our iniquities.
8 (J)But now, O Lord, you are our Father;
(K)we are the clay, and you are our potter;
(L)we are all the work of your hand.
9 (M)Be not so terribly angry, O Lord,
(N)and remember not iniquity forever.
Behold, please look, we are all your people.
10 (O)Your holy cities have become a wilderness;
Zion has become a wilderness,
Jerusalem a desolation.
11 (P)Our holy and beautiful[d] house,
where our fathers praised you,
has been burned by fire,
and all our pleasant places have become ruins.
12 (Q)Will you restrain yourself at these things, O Lord?
Will you keep silent, and afflict us so terribly?
Footnotes
- Isaiah 64:2 Ch 64:1 in Hebrew
- Isaiah 64:5 Or in your ways is continuance, that we might be saved
- Isaiah 64:7 Masoretic Text; Septuagint, Syriac, Targum have delivered us into
- Isaiah 64:11 Or holy and glorious
Isaiah 64
Evangelical Heritage Version
64
Oh, that you would rip open the heavens and come down.
Mountains then would quake because of your presence.[a]
2 As fire ignites stubble and as fire makes water boil,
make your name known to your adversaries.
Then nations would quake in your presence.
3 You did amazing things that we did not expect.
You came down. Mountains quaked because of your presence.
4 From ancient times no one has heard.
No ear has understood.
No eye has seen any god except you,
who goes into action for the one who waits for him.
5 You meet anyone who joyfully practices righteousness,
who remembers you by walking in your ways!
But you were angry because we sinned.
We have remained in our sins for a long time.
Can we still be saved?
6 All of us have become like something unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like a filthy cloth.[b]
All of us have withered like a leaf,
and our guilt carries us away like the wind.
7 There is no one who calls on your name,
who rouses himself to take hold of you.
So you hid your face from us.
You made us melt by the power of our guilt.
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 Do not be angry, Lord, without limit.
Do not remember our guilt forever.
Please look closely.
All of us are your people.
Isaiah’s Lament
10 Your holy cities have become a wilderness.
Zion has become a wilderness.
Jerusalem is a desolation.
11 Our holy and glorious house, where our fathers praised you,
has been burned by fire,
and everything we desired has become a ruin.
12 Since this is so, how can you hold back, O Lord?
How can you remain silent and afflict us without limit?
Footnotes
- Isaiah 64:1 English 64:1 is part of 63:19 in Hebrew. All the subsequent verse numbers in chapter 64 are one number higher in English than they are in Hebrew.
- Isaiah 64:6 Literally the cloth of periods. The blood of a woman’s period made anyone who contacted it ceremonially unclean.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

