Isaiah 64
1 If only you would rip the heavens apart and come down! The mountains would tremble in your presence!
I wish that you would rend the heavens, and then descend! The mountains would flow away before your face.
2 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!
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.
3 In the past you did things we weren't anticipating. You came down and the mountains trembled in your presence!
When you will perform miracles, we will not be able to withstand them. You descended, and the mountains flowed away before your presence.
4 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.
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.
5 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?
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.
6 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.
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.
7 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.
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.
8 But you, Lord, are our Father. We're the clay, you're the potter. You made us all with your own hands.
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.
9 Please limit your anger, Lord, and don't remember our sins forever. Look at us, and see that we are all your people.
Do not be so angry, O Lord, and no longer call to mind our iniquity. Behold, consider that we are all your people.
10 Your holy cities have been turned into a wilderness; Zion has become a desert; yes, even Jerusalem is an abandoned ruin.
The city of your sanctuary has become a desert. Zion has become a desert. Jerusalem is desolate.
11 Our beautiful, holy Temple where our forefathers praised you has been burned down, and all that we treasured has been destroyed.
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.
12 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?
Should you restrain yourself, O Lord, concerning these things? Should you remain silent, and afflict us vehemently?
