Isaiah 63:15-64:12

English Standard Version

Prayer for Mercy

¹⁵^(A)Look down from heaven and see,
    ^(B)from your holy and beautiful^[a] habitation.
Where are ^(C)your zeal and your might?
    The stirring of your inner parts and your compassion
    are held back from me.
¹⁶For ^(D)you are our Father,
    though Abraham does not know us,
    and Israel does not acknowledge us;
you, O Lord, are our Father,
    ^(E)our Redeemer from of old is your name.
¹⁷O Lord, why do you make us wander from your ways
    and ^(F)harden our heart, so that we fear you not?
^(G)Return for the sake of your servants,
    the tribes of your heritage.
¹⁸^(H)Your holy people held possession for a little while;^[b]
    ^(I)our adversaries have trampled down your sanctuary.
¹⁹^(J)We have become like those over whom you have never ruled,
    like those who are not called by your name.

64 ^(K)Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down,
    ^(L)that the mountains might quake at your presence—
²^[c] as when fire kindles brushwood
    and the fire causes water to boil—
^(M)to make your name known to your adversaries,
    and that the nations might tremble at your presence!
³^(N)When you did awesome things that we did not look for,
    you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.
⁴^(O)From of old no one has heard
    or perceived by the ear,
^(P)no eye has seen a God besides you,
    who acts for those who wait for him.
⁵You meet him who joyfully works righteousness,
    those who remember you in your ways.
Behold, you were angry, and we sinned;
    in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved?^[d]
⁶^(Q)We have all become like one who is unclean,
    and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
^(R)We all fade like a leaf,
    and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
⁷^(S)There is no one who calls upon your name,
    who rouses himself to take hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us,
    and have made us melt in^[e] the hand of our iniquities.

⁸^(T)But now, O Lord, you are our Father;
    ^(U)we are the clay, and you are our potter;
    ^(V)we are all the work of your hand.
⁹^(W)Be not so terribly angry, O Lord,
    ^(X)and remember not iniquity forever.
    Behold, please look, we are all your people.
¹⁰^(Y)Your holy cities have become a wilderness;
    Zion has become a wilderness,
    Jerusalem a desolation.
¹¹^(Z)Our holy and beautiful^[f] house,
    where our fathers praised you,
has been burned by fire,
    and all our pleasant places have become ruins.
¹²^(AA)Will you restrain yourself at these things, O Lord?
    Will you keep silent, and afflict us so terribly?