Isaiah 64
The Voice
64 If only You would rip open the heavens
and come down to earth—
Its heights and depths would quake the moment You appear,
2 Like kindling when it just begins to catch fire, or like water that’s about to boil.
If only You would come like that so that all who deny or hate You
Would know who You are and be terrified of Your grandeur.
The prophet is convinced that there is no hope apart from God’s decisive action. It is not enough to address God’s people and the nations and urge them to do better next time. The world cannot be repaired this way; in fact, it can’t be repaired from below at all. It must be made new from above. So the prophet turns to God and utters a prayer, “Rip open the heavens. Come down. Strike your enemies with terror. Do for us what You did for Your people in times past.” This is what it will take to restore God’s people, illumine the nations, and repair a world desperately broken by sin.
3 We remember that long ago You did amazing things for us
that we had never dreamed You’d do.
You came down, and the mountains shook at Your presence.
4 Nothing like that had ever happened before—no eye had ever seen,
and no ear had ever heard such wonders,
But You did them then for the sake of Your people, for those who trusted in You.
5 You meet whoever tries with sincerity of purpose to do what You want—
to do justice and follow in Your ways.
But You became so angry when we rebelled and committed all sorts of wrongs;
we have continued in our sins for a long time. So how can we be saved?
6 We are all messed up like a person compromised with impurity;
even all our right efforts are like soiled rags.
We’re drying up like a leaf in autumn and are blown away by wrongdoing.
7 And it’s so sad because no one calls out to You
or even bothers to approach You anymore.
You’ve been absent from us too long;
You left us to dissolve away in the acrid power of our sins.
8 Still, Eternal One, You are our Father.
We are just clay, and You are the potter.
We are the product of Your creative action, shaped and formed into something of worth.
9 Don’t be so angry anymore, O Eternal;
don’t always remember our wrongs.
Please, look around and see that we are all Your people.
10 The places that You sanctified are reduced to nothing.
Zion is a wasteland; Jerusalem sits in eerie desolation.
11 Our holy and glorious temple, where our ancestors worshiped You,
has been burned to the ground;
Everything we loved is ruined by our enemies,
a smoking pile of ash and debris.
12 Now with all this, Eternal, will You just stand by and watch?
will You keep silent and let us continue to suffer?
Isaiah 64
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
64 O that you would tear open the heavens and come down,
so that the mountains would quake at your presence—(A)
2 [a]as when fire kindles brushwood
and the fire causes water to boil—
to make your name known to your adversaries,
so that the nations might tremble at your presence!(B)
3 When you did awesome deeds that we did not expect,
you came down; the mountains quaked at your presence.(C)
4 From ages past no one has heard,
no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any God besides you,
who works for those who wait for him.(D)
5 You meet those who gladly do right,
those who remember you in your ways.
But you were angry, and we sinned;
because you hid yourself we transgressed.[b](E)
6 We have all become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth.
We all fade like a leaf,
and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.(F)
7 There is no one who calls on your name
or attempts to take hold of you,
for you have hidden your face from us
and have delivered[c] us into the hand of our iniquity.(G)
8 Yet, O Lord, you are our Father;
we are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the work of your hand.(H)
9 Do not be exceedingly angry, O Lord,
and do not remember iniquity forever.
Now consider, we are all your people.(I)
10 Your holy cities have become a wilderness;
Zion has become a wilderness,
Jerusalem a desolation.(J)
11 Our holy and beautiful house,
where our ancestors praised you,
has been burned by fire,
and all our pleasant places have become ruins.(K)
12 After all this, will you restrain yourself, O Lord?
Will you keep silent and punish us so severely?(L)
Isaiah 64
Contemporary English Version
64 Rip the heavens apart!
Come down, Lord;
make the mountains tremble.
2 Be a spark that starts a fire
causing water to boil.[a]
Then your enemies will know
who you are;
all nations will tremble
because you are nearby.
3 Your fearsome deeds
have completely amazed us;
even the mountains shake
when you come down.
4 (A) You are the only God
ever seen or heard of
who works miracles
for his followers.
5 You help all who gladly obey
and do what you want,
but sin makes you angry.
Only by your help
can we ever be saved.[b]
6 We are unfit to worship you;
each of our good deeds
is merely a filthy rag.
We dry up like leaves;
our sins are storm winds
sweeping us away.
7 No one worships in your name
or remains faithful.
You have turned your back on us
and let our sins melt us away.[c]
8 You, Lord, are our Father.
We are nothing but clay,
but you are the potter
who molded us.
9 Don't be so furious
or keep our sins
in your thoughts forever!
Remember that all of us
are your people.
10 Every one of your towns
has turned into a desert,
especially Jerusalem.
11 Zion's glorious and holy temple
where our ancestors praised you
has been destroyed by fire.
Our beautiful buildings
are now a pile of ruins.
12 When you see these things,
how can you just sit there
and make us suffer more?
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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