Isaiah 64
1 I wish that you would rend the heavens, and then descend! The mountains would flow away before your face.
“[Yahweh], I wish that you would tear open the sky and come down, and cause the mountains to shake in your presence.
2 They would melt, as if thoroughly burned by fire. The waters would burn with fire, so that your name might be made known to your enemies, so that the nations would be stirred up before your face.
[Be] like a fire that burns twigs and causes water to boil! [Come down] in order that your enemies will know who you are, and the [people of other] nations will tremble in your presence.
3 When you will perform miracles, we will not be able to withstand them. You descended, and the mountains flowed away before your presence.
You have done awesome things which we were not expecting you to do; the mountains shook when you came down [at Horeb Mountain].
4 From ages past, they have not heard it, and they have not perceived it with the ears. Apart from you, O God, the eye has not seen what you have prepared for those who await you.
Since (long ago/the world began), no one [SYN] has [ever] seen or heard about a God like you; you help those who (depend on/trust in) you.
5 You have met with those who rejoice in doing justice. By your ways, they will remember you. Behold, you have been angry, for we have sinned. In this, we have continued, but we will be saved.
You help those who joyfully do what is right, those who conduct their lives as you want them to. But [we did not do that]; we continued to sin, and so you became angry with us. We have been sinning for a long time, so only if we continually do what you want us to do will we be saved.
6 And we have all become like the unclean. And all our justices are like a rag of menstruation. And we have all fallen away, like a leaf. And our iniquities have carried us away, like the wind.
We have all become people who are not fit to worship you; all of the good things that we have done are only like [SIM] filthy/blood-stained rags. Because of our sins, we are like [SIM] leaves that dry up and are blown away by the wind.
7 There is no one who calls upon your name, who rises up and holds fast to you. You have concealed your face from us, and you have crushed us with the hand of our own iniquity.
None [of our people] worships you, and no one is completely dedicated to [IDM] you. You have turned away from us. [It is as though] you have caused us to be forced to continue our sinful behavior.
8 And now, O Lord, you are our Father, yet truly, we are clay. And you are our Maker, and we are all the works of your hands.
Yahweh, you are our father. We are [like] [MET] clay, and you created us, [like] [MET] a potter [creates pottery].
9 Do not be so angry, O Lord, and no longer call to mind our iniquity. Behold, consider that we are all your people.
Yahweh, do not continue to be angry [with us]; do not keep thinking about [our] sins forever. Do not forget that we are all your people.
10 The city of your sanctuary has become a desert. Zion has become a desert. Jerusalem is desolate.
[All of] your towns [in Judah] have become like [MET] deserts; [even] Jerusalem has been destroyed.
11 The house of our sanctification and of our glory, where our fathers praised you, has been completely consumed by fire, and all our admirable things have been turned into ruins.
Your glorious temple on Zion Hill, where our ancestors worshiped you, has been destroyed by fire. And all our [other] beautiful things have been ruined.
12 Should you restrain yourself, O Lord, concerning these things? Should you remain silent, and afflict us vehemently?
Yahweh, you see all those things, so we worry that you will refrain [from helping us], and that you will cause us to suffer much more.
