Isaiah 64
Lexham English Bible
64 [a] Would that you would tear the heavens and come down;
the mountains would quake before you,
2 [b] as fire kindles brushwood,
the fire causes water to boil,
to make your name known to your adversaries,
that the nations might tremble from your presence.[c]
3 When you did terrible deeds which we did not expect,[d] you came down;
the mountains quaked because of your presence.[e]
4 And since ancient times they have not heard,
have not listened,
no eye has seen a God except you;
he acts[f] for the one who waits for him.
5 You meet with the one who rejoices,
one who does righteousness.
In your ways they remember you.
Look! You were angry and we sinned against them in ancient times and we were saved.
6 And we all have become like the unclean,
and all our deeds of justice like a menstrual cloth,
And we all wither like a leaf,
and our iniquities take us away like the wind.
7 And there is no one who calls on your name,
who pulls himself up to keep hold of you,
for you have hidden your face from us,[g]
and melted us into the hand of our iniquity.
8 Yet now Yahweh, you are our father;
we are the clay and you are our potter,[h]
and we all are the work of your hand.
9 You must not be exceedingly angry, Yahweh,
and you must not remember iniquity forever!
Look! Behold, now! We all are your people!
10 Your holy cities[i] have become a wilderness;
Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.
11 Our holy and beautiful temple,[j] where our ancestors[k] praised you has been burned[l] by fire,
and all our precious objects have become ruins.[m]
12 Will you control yourself because of these, Yahweh?
Will you be silent?
And will you oppress us exceedingly?
Footnotes
- Isaiah 64:1 Isaiah 64:1 in the English Bible begins here. In the Hebrew Bible, 63:19 continues
- Isaiah 64:2 Isaiah 64:2–12 in the English Bible is 64:1–11 in the Hebrew Bible
- Isaiah 64:2 Literally “face”
- Isaiah 64:3 Literally “await”
- Isaiah 64:3 Literally “face”
- Isaiah 64:4 Literally “makes”
- Isaiah 64:7 Or “him”
- Isaiah 64:8 Literally “one who fashions”
- Isaiah 64:10 Literally “The cities of your holiness”
- Isaiah 64:11 Literally “the house of our holiness and our beauty”
- Isaiah 64:11 Or “fathers”
- Isaiah 64:11 Literally “been for burning”
- Isaiah 64:11 Hebrew “ruin”
Isaiah 64
King James Version
64 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?
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