Isaiah 63:7-64:11

New Catholic Bible

⁷ I will recount the favors of the Lord,
    the glorious deeds of the Lord,
because of all that the Lord has done for us
    and the great kindness he has shown
    to the house of Israel.
He has favored us with his mercy
    and the abundance of his steadfast love.
⁸ For he said, “These are indeed my people,
    children who will not betray me,”
    and he became their Savior.
⁹ In all their difficulties
    it was no messenger or an angel
    but he himself who saved them.
In his love and his pity he redeemed them;
    he lifted them up and carried them
    through all the days of old.
¹⁰ However, they rebelled
    and grieved his Holy Spirit.
Therefore, he became their enemy
    and he himself fought against them.
¹¹ Then they remembered the days of old
    and Moses his servant.
Where is he who brought up from the water
    the shepherd of his flock?
Where is he who put his Holy Spirit
    in their midst,
¹² whose glorious arm led them
    to march at the right hand of Moses,
who divided the waters before them
    to win for himself everlasting renown,
¹³     and who led them through the depths?
Like horses in open country,
    they did not stumble.
¹⁴ Like cattle descending into a valley,
    the Spirit of the Lord afforded them rest.
¹⁵ Look down from heaven and see,
    from your holy and glorious dwelling.
Where are your zeal and your might,
    your compassion and your tender mercy?
    Do not withhold them from me.
¹⁶ For you are our Father.
    Although Abraham does not know us
    and Israel^[b] does not acknowledge us,
you, O Lord, are our Father;
    forever you have been called our Redeemer.
¹⁷ Why, O Lord, do you allow us
    to wander from your ways,
and harden our hearts
    so that we do not fear you?
Return for the sake of your servants,
    for the tribes that are your heritage.
¹⁸ For a brief period of time
    your people possessed your holy place,
    but now your enemies have trampled down your sanctuary.
¹⁹ For far too long we have been
    like those whom you do not rule,
    like those who do not bear your name.

¹ Oh that you would tear open the heavens and come down
    so that the mountains would quake in your presence,
² as when fire sets brushwood ablaze
    or causes water to boil.
Thus your name would be known to your adversaries
    and the nations would tremble at your presence.
³ When you descended to perform awesome deeds
    that we did not anticipate,
    the mountains quaked when you appeared.
⁴ Throughout the ages no ear has ever heard,
    nor has any eye ever seen,
any other god except you
    performing such deeds for those who trust him.
⁵ You welcome those who lead an upright life
    and rejoice to imitate your ways.
When we sin, you become angry,
    but when we follow your ways,
    we know that we will be saved.
⁶ All of us have become unclean,
    and all of our righteous deeds are like filthy rags
We all become withered like leaves,
    and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.
⁷ There is no one who invokes your name
    or attempts to hold fast to you.
For you have hidden your face from us
    and have delivered us up because of our sins.
⁸ Yet, O Lord, you are our Father;
    we are the clay and you are our potter;
    all of us are the work of your hands.
⁹ Do not let your anger go to extremes, O Lord,
    and do not remember our sinfulness forever.
Look upon us all,
    for we are all your people.
¹⁰ Your holy cities have become a desert;
    Zion has become a wilderness,
    Jerusalem a desolate waste.
¹¹ Our holy and glorious temple
    in which our ancestors praised you
has been burned to the ground,
    and all that we treasured lies in ruins.