64 [a]If only You would tear the heavens open
and come down,(A)
so that mountains would quake at Your presence(B)
[b]as fire kindles the brushwood,
and fire causes water to boil—
to make Your name known to Your enemies,
so that nations will tremble at Your presence!
When You did awesome works(C)
that we did not expect,
You came down,(D)
and the mountains quaked at Your presence.
From ancient times no one has heard,
no one has listened,
no eye has seen any God except You,
who acts on behalf of the one who waits for Him.(E)
You welcome the one who joyfully does what is right;
they remember You in Your ways.
But we have sinned, and You were angry.
How can we be saved if we remain in our sins?[c]
All of us have become like something unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like a polluted[d] garment;(F)
all of us wither like a leaf,(G)
and our iniquities(H) carry us away like the wind.
No one calls on Your name,
striving to take hold of You.
For You have hidden Your face from us(I)
and made us melt because of[e][f] our iniquity.

Yet Lord, You are our Father;(J)
we are the clay, and You are our potter;
we all are the work of Your hands.(K)
Lord, do not be terribly angry
or remember our iniquity forever.(L)
Please look—all of us are Your people!
10 Your holy cities have become a wilderness;
Zion has become a wilderness,
Jerusalem a desolation.(M)
11 Our holy and beautiful[g] temple,
where our fathers praised You,
has been burned with fire,
and all that was dear to us lies in ruins.(N)
12 Lord, after all this, will You restrain Yourself?
Will You keep silent and afflict severely?(O)

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 64:1 Is 63:19b in Hb
  2. Isaiah 64:2 Is 64:1 in Hb
  3. Isaiah 64:5 Lit angry; in them continually and we will be saved; Hb obscure
  4. Isaiah 64:6 Lit menstrual
  5. Isaiah 64:7 LXX, Syr, Vg, Tg read and delivered us into the hand of
  6. Isaiah 64:7 Lit melt by the hand
  7. Isaiah 64:11 Or glorious; Is 60:7

64 [a] Would that you would tear the heavens and come down;
    the mountains would quake before you,
[b] as fire kindles brushwood,
    the fire causes water to boil,
to make your name known to your adversaries,
    that the nations might tremble from your presence.[c]
When you did terrible deeds which we did not expect,[d] you came down;
    the mountains quaked because of your presence.[e]
And since ancient times they have not heard,
    have not listened,
no eye has seen a God except you;
    he acts[f] for the one who waits for him.
You meet with the one who rejoices,
    one who does righteousness.
In your ways they remember you.
    Look! You were angry and we sinned against them in ancient times and we were saved.
And we all have become like the unclean,
    and all our deeds of justice like a menstrual cloth,
And we all wither like a leaf,
    and our iniquities take us away like the wind.
And there is no one who calls on your name,
    who pulls himself up to keep hold of you,
for you have hidden your face from us,[g]
    and melted us into the hand of our iniquity.
Yet now Yahweh, you are our father;
    we are the clay and you are our potter,[h]
    and we all are the work of your hand.
You must not be exceedingly angry, Yahweh,
    and you must not remember iniquity forever!

Look! Behold, now! We all are your people!

10 Your holy cities[i] have become a wilderness;
    Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.
11 Our holy and beautiful temple,[j] where our ancestors[k] praised you has been burned[l] by fire,
    and all our precious objects have become ruins.[m]
12 Will you control yourself because of these, Yahweh?
    Will you be silent?
        And will you oppress us exceedingly?

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 64:1 Isaiah 64:1 in the English Bible begins here. In the Hebrew Bible, 63:19 continues
  2. Isaiah 64:2 Isaiah 64:2–12 in the English Bible is 64:1–11 in the Hebrew Bible
  3. Isaiah 64:2 Literally “face”
  4. Isaiah 64:3 Literally “await”
  5. Isaiah 64:3 Literally “face”
  6. Isaiah 64:4 Literally “makes”
  7. Isaiah 64:7 Or “him”
  8. Isaiah 64:8 Literally “one who fashions”
  9. Isaiah 64:10 Literally “The cities of your holiness”
  10. Isaiah 64:11 Literally “the house of our holiness and our beauty”
  11. Isaiah 64:11 Or “fathers”
  12. Isaiah 64:11 Literally “been for burning”
  13. Isaiah 64:11 Hebrew “ruin”