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
Common English Bible
64 [a] If only you would tear open the heavens and come down!
Mountains would quake before you
2 like fire igniting brushwood or making water boil.
[b] If you would make your name known to your enemies,
the nations would tremble in your presence.
3 When you accomplished wonders beyond all our expectations;
when you came down, mountains quaked before you.
4 From ancient times,
no one has heard,
no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any god but you
who acts on behalf of those who wait for him![c]
5 You look after those who gladly do right;
they will praise you for your ways.[d]
But you were angry when we sinned;
you hid yourself when we did wrong.[e]
6 We have all become like the unclean;
all our righteous deeds are like a menstrual rag.
All of us wither like a leaf;
our sins, like the wind, carry us away.
7 No one calls on your name;
no one bothers to hold on to you,
for you have hidden yourself from us,
and have handed us over[f] to our sin.
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 Don’t rage so fiercely, Lord;
don’t hold our sins against us forever,
but gaze now on your people, all of us:
10 Your holy cities have become a wilderness;
Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a wasteland.
11 Our holy, glorious house,
where our ancestors praised you,
has gone up in flames;
all that we treasured has become a ruin.
12 After all this, will you hold back, Lord?
Will you keep silent and torment us so terribly?
Footnotes
- Isaiah 64:1 63:19b in Heb
- Isaiah 64:2 64:1 in Heb
- Isaiah 64:4 Heb uncertain
- Isaiah 64:5 Heb uncertain
- Isaiah 64:5 Heb uncertain
- Isaiah 64:7 LXX, cf Syr, Tg, Vulg; MT melted
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible