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.
Didst Thou not rend the heavens? Thou didst come down, From thy presence did mountains flow,
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 kindleth stubble — Fire causeth water to boil, ) To make known Thy name to Thine adversaries, From Thy presence do nations tremble.
3 You have done awesome things which we were not expecting you to do; the mountains shook when you came down [at Horeb Mountain].
In Thy doing fearful things — we expect not, Thou didst come down, From Thy presence did mountains flow.
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.
Even from antiquity [men] have not heard, They have not given ear, Eye hath not seen a God save Thee, He doth work for those waiting 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.
Thou hast met with the rejoicer And the doer of righteousness, In Thy ways they remember Thee, Lo, Thou hast been wroth when we sin, By them [is] continuance, and we are saved.
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.
And we are as unclean — all of us, And as a garment passing away, all our righteous acts; And we fade as a leaf — all of us. And our iniquities as wind do take us away.
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.
And there is none calling in Thy name, Stirring up himself to lay hold on Thee, For Thou hast hid Thy face from us, And thou meltest us away by our iniquities.
8 Yahweh, you are our father. We are [like] [MET] clay, and you created us, [like] [MET] a potter [creates pottery].
And now, O Jehovah, thou [art] our Father, We [are] the clay, and Thou our Framer, And the work of Thy hand — all of us.
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.
Be not wroth, O Jehovah, very sore, Nor for ever remember iniquity, Lo, look attentively, we beseech Thee, Thy people [are] we all.
10 [All of] your towns [in Judah] have become like [MET] deserts; [even] Jerusalem has been destroyed.
Thy holy cities have been a wilderness, Zion a wilderness hath been, 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 our beautiful house, Where praise Thee did our fathers, Hath become burnt with fire, And all our desirable things have become a waste.
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.
For these dost Thou refrain Thyself, Jehovah? Thou art silent, and dost afflict us very sore!'
