Isaiah 64

1 If only You would rend the heavens and come down, so that mountains would quake at Your presence,

2 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 When You did awesome works that we did not expect, You came down, and the mountains trembled at Your presence.

4 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 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 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 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 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 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 Your holy cities have become a wilderness. Zion has become a wasteland and Jerusalem a desolation.

11 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 After all this, O LORD, will You restrain Yourself? Will You keep silent and afflict us beyond measure?

1 ¶ Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence,

2 As [when] the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make thy name known to thine adversaries, [that] the nations may tremble at thy presence!

3 When thou didst terrible things [which] we looked not for, thou camest down, the mountains flowed down at thy presence.

4 For since the beginning of the world [men] have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, [what] he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.

5 Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, [those that] remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved.

6 ¶ But we are all as an unclean [thing], and all our righteousnesses [are] as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

7 And [there is] none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.

8 But now, O LORD, thou [art] our father; we [are] the clay, and thou our potter; and we all [are] the work of thy hand.

9 Be not wroth very sore, O LORD, neither remember iniquity for ever: behold, see, we beseech thee, we [are] all thy people.

10 Thy holy cities are a wilderness, Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.

11 Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned up with fire: and all our pleasant things are laid waste.

12 Wilt thou refrain thyself for these [things], O LORD? wilt thou hold thy peace, and afflict us very sore?

2 As waters boiled by fierce fire, that thy name might be known among thine enemies, and that the heathen might tremble at thy presence.

3 By the wonders which thou doest, which are not understood, when thou camest down, and the mountains were melted before thee.

4 For as it is not heard from the world, nor heard with ears, neither hath eye seen, without thee, O God, what befalleth them that wait for him.

5 Thou metst the merry, and them that do righteousness, and remember thee in thy ways. Behold, thou wast angry with us, because we sinned, and abode long within: but we were saved.

6 But now we are all as the unclean, and all our righteousness is as an unclean garment. We are all withered as the leaves, and our sins carry us away as the wind.

7 I will remember the goodness of the LORD, and the praise of the LORD in all that the LORD hath done unto us, and the great goodness of the house of Israel, which he hath done unto them in his mercy and great kindness.

7 No man calleth upon thy name, nor riseth up to hold thee: for thou hidest thy face from us, and causest us to languish in our sins.

8 For he said, They are my people, children that are not false. Therefore was he their saviour.

8 But now, O Lord, thou art our Father, we are clay; thou art our potter, and we are all the work of thy hands.

9 He that afflicted them afflicted him also: and the angel that is before him helped them. He delivered them, because he loved them, and spared them. He took them up, and carried them from of old.

9 O LORD, be not angry with us, and remember not our sins for ever. Behold, we are all thy people!

10 But they provoked and enraged his Holy Spirit: therefore he became their enemy, and fought against them.

10 The cities of thy sanctuary are desolate: Zion is desolate, Jerusalem is destroyed.

11 And he remembered the former time, Moses, which was among his people. Where then is he that brought them up out of the sea, and the shepherd of his flock? Where is he who gave his Holy Spirit among them?

11 The house of our holiness and glory, wherein our fathers praised thee, is burned with fire, and all that we had of beauty is put to shame.

12 Who led Moses by the right hand with his glorious arm, which parted the waters before them, that he might make him an everlasting name,

12 O Lord, wilt thou be so hard unto such, and hold our peace, and smite us so much?

13 Who leadeth them through the deep, as horses in the wilderness, which stumble not,

14 As the cattle that go down into the field, which the breath of the LORD driveth? So hast thou also led thy people, that thou mightest make thee a glorious name.

15 Look therefore from heaven, and behold from thy holy glorious habitation. Where then is thy zeal, thy might? Thy great hearty mercy holdeth hard against me.

16 Thou art our father. For Abraham knoweth not of us, and Israel knoweth us not. But thou, O LORD, art our Father, and our Redeemer: of old time is thy name.

17 Why hast thou caused us to err, O LORD, from thy ways, and hardened our hearts, that we fear not thee? Return again for thy servants' sake, for the tribes' sake, for thine inheritance.

18 They almost possess thy holy people: thine adversaries have trodden down thy sanctuary.

19 We are as we were before, when thou didst not rule over us, and we were not called by thy name. Chapter 64, 1: Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, and bring down the mountains before thee!