Isaiah 64
1 “[Yahweh], I wish that you would tear open the sky and come down, and cause the mountains to shake in your presence.
If only You would rend the heavens and come down, so that mountains would quake at Your presence,
2 [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.
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!
3 You have done awesome things which we were not expecting you to do; the mountains shook when you came down [at Horeb Mountain].
When You did awesome works that we did not expect, You came down, and the mountains trembled at Your presence.
4 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.
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.
5 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.
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?
6 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.
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.
7 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.
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.
8 Yahweh, you are our father. We are [like] [MET] clay, and you created us, [like] [MET] a potter [creates pottery].
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.
9 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.
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!
10 [All of] your towns [in Judah] have become like [MET] deserts; [even] Jerusalem has been destroyed.
Your holy cities have become a wilderness. Zion has become a wasteland and Jerusalem a desolation.
11 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.
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.
12 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.
After all this, O LORD, will You restrain Yourself? Will You keep silent and afflict us beyond measure?
