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—
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!
When (B)You did awesome things for which we did not look,
You came down,
The mountains shook at Your presence.
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.
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.

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.
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.

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.
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

  1. Isaiah 64:1 tear open
  2. Isaiah 64:6 Lit. a filthy garment
  3. Isaiah 64:7 Lit. caused us to melt
  4. Isaiah 64:11 Lit. house
  5. Isaiah 64:11 have become a ruin
  6. Isaiah 64:12 keep silent

64 (A)Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down,
    (B)that the mountains might quake at your presence—
[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!
(D)When you did awesome things that we did not look for,
    you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.
(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.
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]
(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.
(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.

(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.
(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

  1. Isaiah 64:2 Ch 64:1 in Hebrew
  2. Isaiah 64:5 Or in your ways is continuance, that we might be saved
  3. Isaiah 64:7 Masoretic Text; Septuagint, Syriac, Targum have delivered us into
  4. Isaiah 64:11 Or holy and glorious

64 願你破天而降,
願山在你面前震動,
好像火燒乾柴,
又如火將水燒開,
使你敵人知道你的名,
列國必在你面前發顫!
你曾做我們不能逆料可畏的事;
那時你降臨,山嶺在你面前震動。
自古以來,人未曾聽見,未曾耳聞,未曾眼見,
除你以外,還有 神能為等候他的人行事。
你迎見那歡喜行義、記念你道的人;
看哪,你曾發怒,因我們犯了罪;
這景況已久,我們還能得救嗎?
我們都如不潔淨的人,
所行的義都像污穢的衣服。
我們如葉子漸漸枯乾,
罪孽像風把我們吹走。
無人求告你的名,
無人奮力抓住你。
你轉臉不顧我們,
你使我們因罪孽而融化[a]

但耶和華啊,現在你仍是我們的父!
我們是泥,你是陶匠;
我們都是你親手所造的。
耶和華啊,求你不要大發震怒,
也不要永遠記得罪孽;
看哪,求你垂顧我們,
因我們都是你的百姓。
10 你的聖城已變為曠野;
錫安變為曠野,
耶路撒冷成為廢墟。
11 我們那神聖華美的殿,
就是我們祖先讚美你的地方,已被火焚燒;
我們所羨慕的美地盡都荒蕪。
12 耶和華啊,有這些事,你還能忍受嗎?
你還靜默,使我們大受苦難嗎?

Footnotes

  1. 64.7 「你使…融化」:七十士譯本和其他古譯本是「你把我們交給罪孽」。