Isaiah 64
1 That thou wouldst rend the heavens, and wouldst come down: the mountains would melt away at thy presence.
If only you would rip the heavens apart and come down! The mountains would tremble in your presence!
2 They would melt as at the burning of fire, the waters would burn with fire, that thy name might be made known to thy enemies: that the nations might tremble at thy 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 thou shalt do wonderful things, we shall not bear them: thou didst come down, and at thy presence the mountains melted away.
In the past you did things we weren't anticipating. You came down and the mountains trembled in your presence!
4 From the beginning of the world they have not heard, nor perceived with the ears: the eye hath not seen, O God, besides thee, what things thou hast prepared for them that wait for thee.
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 Thou hast met him that rejoiceth, and doth justice: in thy ways they shall remember thee: behold thou art angry, and we have sinned: in them we have been always, and we shall be saved.
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 And we are all become as one unclean, and all our justices as the rag of a menstruous woman: and we have all fallen as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
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 There is none that calleth upon thy name: that riseth up, and taketh hold of thee: thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast crushed us in 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 And now, O Lord, thou art our father, and we are clay: and thou art our maker, and we all are the works of thy hands.
But you, Lord, are our Father. We're the clay, you're the potter. You made us all with your own hands.
9 Be not very angry, O Lord, and remember no longer our iniquity: behold, see we are all thy 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 The city of thy sanctuary is become a desert, Sion is made a desert, Jerusalem is desolate.
Your holy cities have been turned into a wilderness; Zion has become a desert; yes, even Jerusalem is an abandoned ruin.
11 The house of our holiness, and of our glory, where our fathers praised thee, is burnt with fire, and all our lovely things are turned into ruins.
Our beautiful, holy Temple where our forefathers praised you has been burned down, and all that we treasured has been destroyed.
12 Wilt thou refrain thyself, O Lord, upon these things, wilt thou hold thy peace, and afflict us vehemently?
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?
