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.”
Isaiah 64
New American Standard Bible
Prayer for Mercy and Help
64 [a]Oh, that You would tear open the heavens and (A)come down,
That the mountains would (B)quake at Your presence—
2 [b]As fire kindles brushwood, as fire causes water to boil—
To make Your name known to Your adversaries,
That the (C)nations may tremble at Your presence!
3 When You did (D)awesome things which we did not expect,
You came down, the mountains quaked at Your presence.
4 For from days of old (E)they have not heard or perceived by ear,
Nor has the eye seen a God besides You,
Who acts in behalf of one who (F)waits for Him.
5 You (G)meet him who rejoices in (H)doing righteousness,
Who (I)remembers You in Your ways.
Behold, (J)You were angry, for we sinned,
We continued in [c]our sins for a long time;
Yet shall we be saved?
6 For all of us have become like one who is (K)unclean,
And all our (L)righteous deeds are like a filthy garment;
And all of us (M)wither like a leaf,
And our (N)wrongdoings, like the wind, take us away.
7 There is (O)no one who calls on Your name,
Who stirs himself to take hold of You;
For You have (P)hidden Your face from us
And have [d]surrendered us to the power of our wrongdoings.
8 But now, Lord, (Q)You are our Father;
We are the (R)clay, and You our potter,
And all of us are the (S)work of Your hand.
9 Do not be (T)angry beyond measure, Lord,
(U)Nor remember wrongdoing forever.
Behold, please look, all of us are (V)Your people.
10 Your (W)holy cities have become a (X)wilderness,
Zion has become a wilderness,
Jerusalem a desolation.
11 Our holy and beautiful (Y)house,
Where our fathers praised You,
Has been burned by fire;
And (Z)all our precious things have become a ruin.
12 Will You (AA)restrain Yourself at these things, Lord?
Will You keep silent and afflict us beyond measure?
Footnotes
- Isaiah 64:1 Ch 63:19b in Heb
- Isaiah 64:2 Ch 64:1 in Heb
- Isaiah 64:5 Lit them
- Isaiah 64:7 As in DSS and ancient versions; MT melted
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