Isaiah 64

1 If only You would rend the heavens and come down, so that mountains would quake at Your presence,

If thou wouldest open the heaven, trembling will take hold upon the mountains from thee, and they shall melt,

2 as fire kindles the brushwood and causes the water to boil, to make Your name known to Your enemies, so that the nations will tremble at Your presence!

as wax melts before the fire; and fire shall burn up the enemies, and thy name shall be manifest among the adversaries: at thy presence the nations shall be troubled,

3 When You did awesome works that we did not expect, You came down, and the mountains trembled at Your presence.

whenever thou shalt work gloriously; trembling from thee shall take hold upon the mountains.

4 From ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides You, who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him.

From of old we have not heard, neither have our eyes seen a God beside thee, and thy works which thou wilt perform to them that wait for mercy.

5 You welcome those who gladly do right, who remember Your ways. Surely You were angry, for we sinned. How can we be saved if we remain in our sins?

For [these blessings] shall happen to them that work righteousness, and they shall remember thy ways: behold, thou wast angry and we have sinned; therefore we have erred,

6 Each of us has become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.

and we are all become as unclean, and all our righteousness as a filthy rag: and we have fallen as leaves because of our iniquities; thus the wind shall carry us [away].

7 No one calls on Your name or strives to take hold of You. For You have hidden Your face from us and delivered us into the hand of our iniquity.

And there is none that calls upon thy name, or that remembers to take hold on thee: for thou hast turned thy face away from us, and hast delivered us up because of our sins.

8 But now, O LORD, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are the potter; we are all the work of Your hand.

And now, O Lord, thou art our Father, and we are clay, all [of us] the work of thine hands.

9 Do not be angry, O LORD, beyond measure; do not remember our iniquity forever. Oh, look upon us, we pray; we are all Your people!

Be not very wroth with us, and remember not our sins for ever; but now look on [us], for we are all thy people.

10 Your holy cities have become a wilderness. Zion has become a wasteland and Jerusalem a desolation.

The city of thy holiness has become desolate, Sion has become as a wilderness, Jerusalem a curse.

11 Our holy and beautiful temple, where our fathers praised You, has been burned with fire, and all that was dear to us lies in ruins.

The house, our sanctuary, and the glory which our fathers blessed, has been burnt with fire: and all our glorious things have gone to ruin.

12 After all this, O LORD, will You restrain Yourself? Will You keep silent and afflict us beyond measure?

And for all these things thou, O Lord, has withholden, thyself, and been silent, and hast brought us very low.