Isaiah 64
1 If only You would rend the heavens and come down, so that mountains would quake at Your presence,
If only you would rip the heavens apart and come down! The mountains would tremble in your presence!
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!
In the same way that fire burns wood and makes the water boil, make your reputation known to your enemies, so that nations will tremble in your presence!
3 When You did awesome works that we did not expect, You came down, and the mountains trembled at Your presence.
In the past you did things we weren't anticipating. You came down and the mountains trembled in your presence!
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.
Since the beginning, no one has heard about, no one has paid attention to, and no one has seen any God except you, the one who helps those who place their confidence in you.
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?
You join with those who are glad, and with those who do what's right and remember to follow your ways. But when we went on sinning, you became angry. How can we be saved if we go on like this?
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.
We've all become unclean, and all the good things we do are like dirty rags. We wither and die like autumn leaves, and our sins, like the wind, blow 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.
There's no one who calls for you or really wants to hold onto you, because you have hidden your face from us and let us drown in our own 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.
But you, Lord, are our Father. We're the clay, you're the potter. You made us all with your own 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!
Please limit your anger, Lord, and don't remember our sins forever. Look at us, and see that we are all your people.
10 Your holy cities have become a wilderness. Zion has become a wasteland and Jerusalem a desolation.
Your holy cities have been turned into a wilderness; Zion has become a desert; yes, even Jerusalem is an abandoned ruin.
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.
Our beautiful, holy Temple where our forefathers praised you has been burned down, and all that we treasured has been destroyed.
12 After all this, O LORD, will You restrain Yourself? Will You keep silent and afflict us beyond measure?
In view of all this, are you still going to refuse to help us? Are you going to stay quiet and punish us so severely?
