Isaiah 64

1 Would that thou hadst rent the heavens, hadst come down,

Oh that you would tear the heavens, that you would come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence—

2 At thy presence, had mountains, quaked: As fire kindleth brushwood, [As] fire causeth, water, to boil, So if thou wouldst make known thy Name to thine adversaries, At thy presence, nations, would tremble.

as when fire kindles the brushwood, and the fire causes the water to boil. Make your name known to your adversaries, that the nations may tremble at your presence!

3 When thou didst fearful things we could not expect, Thou camest down at thy presence, mountains, quaked.

When you did awesome things which we didn’t look for, you came down, and the mountains quaked at your presence.

4 Although from age-past times It was never heard, It was not perceived by the ear, —Neither did, the eye, ever see—That, a god besides thee, could work for the man who waited for him,

For from of old men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen a God besides you, who works for him who waits for him.

5 Yet didst thou meet Him who was rejoicing and working righteousness, Even them who in thy ways, remembered thee, —Lo! thou, hast been vexed, And truly we had sinned, Among them, was the prospect of an age [to come], That we might be saved.

You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness, those who remember you in your ways. Behold, you were angry, and we sinned. We have been in sin for a long time. Shall we be saved?

6 But we have become as one unclean all of us, And, as a garment polluted, were all our righteous doings, —And so we faded like a leaf all of us, And, our iniquity, as a wind, carried us away;

For we have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteousness is like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

7 And there was none To call upon thy Name, To rouse himself to lay firm hold on thee, —For thou hadst hidden thy face from us, And hadst made us despond, by means of our iniquity.

There is no one who calls on your name, who stirs himself up to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have consumed us by means of our iniquities.

8 But, now, O Yahweh, our father, thou art, —We are the clay, and, thou, art our potter, Yea the work of thy hand, are we all:

But now, LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay and you our potter. We all are the work of your hand.

9 Do not be indignant, O Yahweh so very greatly, Neither perpetually, do thou recall iniquity, —Lo! look around, we pray thee…thy people, are, we all.

Don’t be furious, LORD. Don’t remember iniquity forever. Look and see, we beg you, we are all your people.

10 Thy holy cities, have become a wilderness, —Zion, a wilderness, hath become, Jerusalem, a desolation!

Your holy cities have become a wilderness. Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.

11 Our holy and our beautiful house Where our fathers praised thee, Hath become a conflagration, —And, all our delightful places, are in ruins!

Our holy and our beautiful house where our fathers praised you is burnt with fire. All our pleasant places are laid waste.

12 In view of these things, wilt thou restrain thyself. O Yahweh? Wilt thou hold thy peace and humble us so very greatly?

Will you hold yourself back for these things, LORD? Will you keep silent and punish us very severely?