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64 If only You would tear open the heavens and come down! The mountains would shake before You, as when fire burns the wood and causes the water to boil. Come and make Your name known to those who are against you, that the nations may shake in fear before You! When You did powerful things which we did not expect, You came down, and the mountains shook before You. From long ago no ear has heard and no eye has seen any God besides You, Who works for those who wait for Him. You meet him who finds joy in doing what is right and good, who remembers You in Your ways. See, You were angry because we sinned. We have been sinning for a long time, and will we be saved? All of us have become like one who is unclean. All our right and good works are like dirty pieces of cloth. And all of us dry up like a leaf. Our sins take us away like the wind. 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 given us over to the power of our sins.

But now, O Lord, You are our Father. We are the clay, and You are our pot maker. All of us are the work of Your hand. Do not be so angry, O Lord. Do not remember our sin forever. Look now, all of us are Your people. 10 Your holy cities have become a waste place. Zion has become a waste place. Jerusalem lies destroyed. 11 Our holy and beautiful house, where our fathers praised You, has been burned by fire. And all our things of great worth have been destroyed. 12 Will You do nothing after seeing these things, O Lord? Will You keep quiet and make us suffer even more?

64 [a]Oh, that you would rend the heavens(A) and come down,(B)
    that the mountains(C) would tremble before you!
As when fire sets twigs ablaze
    and causes water to boil,
come down to make your name(D) known to your enemies
    and cause the nations to quake(E) before you!
For when you did awesome(F) things that we did not expect,
    you came down, and the mountains trembled(G) before you.
Since ancient times no one has heard,
    no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any God besides you,(H)
    who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.(I)
You come to the help of those who gladly do right,(J)
    who remember your ways.
But when we continued to sin against them,
    you were angry.(K)
    How then can we be saved?
All of us have become like one who is unclean,(L)
    and all our righteous(M) acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,(N)
    and like the wind our sins sweep us away.(O)
No one(P) calls on your name(Q)
    or strives to lay hold of you;
for you have hidden(R) your face from us
    and have given us over(S) to[b] our sins.

Yet you, Lord, are our Father.(T)
    We are the clay, you are the potter;(U)
    we are all the work of your hand.(V)
Do not be angry(W) beyond measure, Lord;
    do not remember our sins(X) forever.
Oh, look on us, we pray,
    for we are all your people.(Y)
10 Your sacred cities(Z) have become a wasteland;
    even Zion is a wasteland, Jerusalem a desolation.(AA)
11 Our holy and glorious temple,(AB) where our ancestors praised you,
    has been burned with fire,
    and all that we treasured(AC) lies in ruins.
12 After all this, Lord, will you hold yourself back?(AD)
    Will you keep silent(AE) and punish us beyond measure?

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 64:1 In Hebrew texts 64:1 is numbered 63:19b, and 64:2-12 is numbered 64:1-11.
  2. Isaiah 64:7 Septuagint, Syriac and Targum; Hebrew have made us melt because of