Isaiah 64
1 Oh that you would tear the heavens, that you would come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence—
“[Yahweh], I wish that you would tear open the sky and come down, and cause the mountains to shake in your presence.
2 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!
[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.
3 When you did awesome things which we didn’t look for, you came down, and the mountains quaked at your presence.
You have done awesome things which we were not expecting you to do; the mountains shook when you came down [at Horeb Mountain].
4 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.
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.
5 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?
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.
6 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.
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.
7 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.
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.
8 But now, LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay and you our potter. We all are the work of your hand.
Yahweh, you are our father. We are [like] [MET] clay, and you created us, [like] [MET] a potter [creates pottery].
9 Don’t be furious, LORD. Don’t remember iniquity forever. Look and see, we beg you, we are all your people.
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.
10 Your holy cities have become a wilderness. Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.
[All of] your towns [in Judah] have become like [MET] deserts; [even] Jerusalem has been destroyed.
11 Our holy and our beautiful house where our fathers praised you is burned with fire. All our pleasant places are laid waste.
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.
12 Will you hold yourself back for these things, LORD? Will you keep silent and punish us very severely?
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.
