Isaiæ 64
1 Utinam dirumperes caelos, et descenderes: a facie tua montes defluerent.
If only you would rip the heavens apart and come down! The mountains would tremble in your presence!
2 Sicut exustio ignis tabescerent, aquae arderent igni, ut notum fieret nomen tuum inimicis tuis: a facie tua gentes turbarentur.
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 Cum feceris mirabilia, non sustinebimus: descendisti, et a facie tua montes defluxerunt.
In the past you did things we weren't anticipating. You came down and the mountains trembled in your presence!
4 A saeculo non audierunt, neque auribus perceperunt: oculus non vidit, Deus absque te, quae praeparasti expectantibus te.
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 Occurristi laetanti, et facienti iustitiam: in viis tuis recordabuntur tui: ecce tu iratus es, et peccavimus: in ipsis fuimus semper, et salvabimur.
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 Et facti sumus ut immundi omnes nos, et quasi pannus menstruatae universae iustitiae nostrae: et cecidimus quasi folium universi, et iniquitates nostrae quasi ventus abstulerunt nos.
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 Non est qui invocet nomen tuum: qui consurgat, et teneat te: abscondisti faciem tuam a nobis, et allisisti nos in manu iniquitatis nostrae.
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 Et nunc Domine, pater noster es tu, nos vero lutum: et fictor noster tu, et opera manuum tuarum omnes nos.
But you, Lord, are our Father. We're the clay, you're the potter. You made us all with your own hands.
9 Ne irascaris Domine satis, et ne ultra memineris iniquitatis nostrae: ecce respice, populus tuus omnes nos.
Please limit your anger, Lord, and don't remember our sins forever. Look at us, and see that we are all your people.
10 Civitas sancti tui facta est deserta, Sion deserta facta est, Ierusalem desolata est.
Your holy cities have been turned into a wilderness; Zion has become a desert; yes, even Jerusalem is an abandoned ruin.
11 Domus sanctificationis nostrae, et gloriae nostrae, ubi laudaverunt te patres nostri, facta est in exustionem ignis, et omnia desiderabilia nostra versa sunt in ruinas.
Our beautiful, holy Temple where our forefathers praised you has been burned down, and all that we treasured has been destroyed.
12 Numquid super his continebis te Domine, tacebis, et affliges nos vehementer?
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?
