Isaiah 64
1 Didst Thou not rend the heavens? Thou didst come down, From thy presence did mountains flow,
If only you would rip the heavens apart and come down! The mountains would tremble in your presence!
2 (As fire kindleth stubble — Fire causeth water to boil, ) To make known Thy name to Thine adversaries, From Thy presence do nations tremble.
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!
3 In Thy doing fearful things — we expect not, Thou didst come down, From Thy presence did mountains flow.
In the past you did things we weren't anticipating. You came down and the mountains trembled in your presence!
4 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.
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.
5 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.
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?
6 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.
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.
7 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.
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.
8 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.
But you, Lord, are our Father. We're the clay, you're the potter. You made us all with your own hands.
9 Be not wroth, O Jehovah, very sore, Nor for ever remember iniquity, Lo, look attentively, we beseech Thee, Thy people [are] we all.
Please limit your anger, Lord, and don't remember our sins forever. Look at us, and see that we are all your people.
10 Thy holy cities have been a wilderness, Zion a wilderness hath been, Jerusalem a desolation.
Your holy cities have been turned into a wilderness; Zion has become a desert; yes, even Jerusalem is an abandoned ruin.
11 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.
Our beautiful, holy Temple where our forefathers praised you has been burned down, and all that we treasured has been destroyed.
12 For these dost Thou refrain Thyself, Jehovah? Thou art silent, and dost afflict us very sore!'
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?
