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64 I would that thou brakest heavens, and camest down, that hills floated away from thy face, (O that thou wouldest break open the heavens, and come down, and that the hills would flow down before thee,)

and failed, [(or) vanish(ed) away,] as the burning of fire, and (as) [waters] burnt in (the) fire; that thy name were made known to thine enemies, and folks were troubled of thy face. (and tremble, and perish, like something burned in the fire, or like water boiled by the fire; so that thy name was made known to thy enemies, and the nations were troubled before thee.)

When thou shalt do marvels, we shall not abide. Thou camest down, and hills floated away from thy face. (There was a time when thou camest down, and did terrible things, which we did not expect; and the hills flowed down before thee.)

From the world they heard not, neither perceived with ears; God, none eye saw, without thee, what things thou hast made ready to them that abide thee. (From the beginning of the world, none have heard of, nor have perceived with their ears; and not one eye hath seen anyone besides thee, O God, who hath made such things as thou hast, for those who wait for thee.)

Thou mettest him that is glad, and doeth rightfulness; in thy ways they shall bethink on thee. Lo! thou art wroth, and we sinned; in those sins we were ever, and we shall be saved. (Thou meetest him who is happy to do what is right; yea, all those who remember thee in thy ways. But lo! thou wast angry, for we sinned; and we were ever in those sins.)

And all we be made as an unclean man; all our rightfulnesses be as the cloth of a woman in menstruation, or unclean blood; and all we fell down as a leaf, and our wickednesses, as (the) wind, have taken away us. (And we all be made like an unclean man; all our righteousnesses be like the cloth of a woman in menstruation, or in unclean blood; and we all fell down like a leaf, and our wickednesses have taken us away, like the wind.)

None is, that calleth thy name to help, that riseth, and holdeth thee; thou hast hid thy face from us, and thou hast hurtled down us in(to) the hand of our wickedness. (There is no one who calleth on thy name for help, or who riseth up, and taketh hold of thee; and so thou hast hid thy face from us, and thou hast hurtled us down into the hand, or the power, of our own wickedness.)

And now, Lord, thou art our father; forsooth we be clay, and thou art our maker, and all we be the works of thine hands. (But now, Lord, thou art our father; and we be but clay, and thou art our Maker, and we all be the works of thy hands.)

Lord, be thou not wroth (any more than) enough, and have thou no more mind on our wickedness. Lo! Lord, behold thou, all we be thy people. (Lord, be thou not angry any more than enough, and no more remember thou our wickedness. Lo! Lord, behold thou, we all be thy people.)

10 The city of thy holy, either saintuary, is forsaken, Zion is made desert, Jerusalem is made desolate; (Thy holy cities be deserted, Zion is made a wilderness, Jerusalem is made desolate;)

11 the house of our hallowing and of our glory, where our fathers praised thee, is made into (a) burning of fire; and all our desirable things be turned into fallings. (our glorious holy Temple, where our forefathers praised thee, hath been burned into ashes; and all the things that we desired, or cherished, be turned into ruins.)

12 Lord, whether on these things thou shalt withhold thee? shalt thou be still, and shalt thou torment us greatly? (Lord, shalt thou still withhold thyself after all these things that have happened? shalt thou still be silent, and shalt thou still greatly torment us?)

64 (63:19b)[a] If only you would tear apart the sky[b] and come down!
The mountains would tremble[c] before you!
(64:1) As when fire ignites dry wood,
or fire makes water boil,
let your adversaries know who you are,[d]
and may the nations shake at your presence!
When you performed awesome deeds that took us by surprise,[e]
you came down, and the mountains trembled[f] before you.
Since ancient times no one has heard or perceived,[g]
no eye has seen any God besides you,
who intervenes for those who wait for him.
You assist[h] those who delight in doing what is right,[i]
who observe your commandments.[j]
Look, you were angry because we violated them continually.
How then can we be saved?[k]
We are all like one who is unclean,
all our so-called righteous acts are like a menstrual rag in your sight.[l]
We all wither like a leaf;
our sins carry us away like the wind.
No one invokes[m] your name,
or makes an effort[n] to take hold of you.
For you have rejected us[o]
and handed us over to our own sins.[p]
Yet,[q] Lord, you are our father.
We are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the product of your labor.[r]
Lord, do not be too angry!
Do not hold our sins against us continually.[s]
Take a good look at your people, at all of us.[t]
10 Your chosen[u] cities have become a wilderness;
Zion has become a wilderness,
Jerusalem, a desolate ruin.
11 Our holy temple, our pride and joy,[v]
the place where our ancestors praised you,
has been burned with fire;
all our prized possessions have been destroyed.[w]
12 In light of all this,[x] how can you still hold back, Lord?
How can you be silent and continue to humiliate us?

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 64:1 sn In BHS the chapter division occurs in a different place from the English Bible: 64:1 ET (63:19b HT) and 64:2-12 (64:1-11 HT). Beginning with 65:1 the verse numbers in the English Bible and the Hebrew Bible are again the same.
  2. Isaiah 64:1 tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.
  3. Isaiah 64:1 tn Or “quake.” נָזֹלּוּ (nazollu) is from the verbal root זָלַל (zalal, “quake”; see HALOT 272 s.v. II זלל). Perhaps there is a verbal allusion to Judg 5:5, the only other passage where this verb occurs. In that passage the poet tells how the Lord’s appearance to do battle caused the mountains to shake.
  4. Isaiah 64:2 tn Heb “to make known your name to your adversaries.” Perhaps the infinitive construct with preposition לְ (lamed) should be construed with “come down” in v. 1a, or subordinated to the following line: “To make known your name to your adversaries, let the nations shake from before you.”
  5. Isaiah 64:3 tn Heb “[for which] we were not waiting.”
  6. Isaiah 64:3 tn See the note at v. 1.
  7. Isaiah 64:4 tn Heb “from ancient times they have not heard, they have not listened.”
  8. Isaiah 64:5 tn Heb “meet [with kindness].”
  9. Isaiah 64:5 tn Heb “the one who rejoices and does righteousness.”
  10. Isaiah 64:5 tn Heb “in your ways they remember you.”
  11. Isaiah 64:5 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “look, you were angry, and we sinned against them continually [or perhaps, “in ancient times”] and we were delivered.” The statement makes little sense as it stands. The first vav [ו] consecutive (“and we sinned”) must introduce an explanatory clause here (see Num 1:48 and Isa 39:1 for other examples of this relatively rare use of the vav [ו] consecutive). The final verb (if rendered positively) makes no sense in this context—God’s anger at their sin resulted in judgment, not deliverance. One of the alternatives involves an emendation to וַנִּרְשָׁע (vannirshaʿ, “and we were evil”; LXX, NRSV, TEV). The Vulgate and the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa support the MT reading. One can either accept an emendation or cast the statement as a question (as above).
  12. Isaiah 64:6 tn Heb “and like a garment of menstruation [are] all our righteous acts”; KJV, NIV “filthy rags”; ASV “a polluted garment.”
  13. Isaiah 64:7 tn Or “calls out in”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “calls on.”
  14. Isaiah 64:7 tn Or “rouses himself”; NASB “arouses himself.”
  15. Isaiah 64:7 tn Heb “for you have hidden your face from us.”
  16. Isaiah 64:7 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “and you caused us to melt in the hand of our sin.” The verb וַתְּמוּגֵנוּ (vattemugenu) is a Qal preterite second person masculine singular with a first person common plural suffix from the root מוּג (mug, “melt”). However, elsewhere the Qal of this verb is intransitive. If the verbal root מוּג (mug) is retained here, the form should be emended to a Polel pattern (וַתְּמֹגְגֵנוּ, vattemogegenu). The translation assumes an emendation to וַתְּמַגְּנֵנוּ (vattemaggenenu, “and you handed us over”). This form is a Piel preterite second person masculine singular with a first person common plural suffix from the verb מָגָן (magan, “hand over, surrender”; see HALOT 545 s.v. מגן and BDB 171 s.v. מָגָן). The point is that God has abandoned them to their sinful ways and no longer seeks reconciliation.
  17. Isaiah 64:8 tn On the force of וְעַתָּה (veʿattah) here, see HALOT 902 s.v. עַתָּה.
  18. Isaiah 64:8 tn Heb “the work of your hand.”
  19. Isaiah 64:9 tn Heb “do not remember sin continually.”
  20. Isaiah 64:9 tn Heb “Look, gaze at your people, all of us.” Another option is to translate, “Take a good look! We are all your people.”
  21. Isaiah 64:10 tn Heb “holy” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV, NLT); NIV “sacred.”
  22. Isaiah 64:11 tn Heb “our source of pride.”
  23. Isaiah 64:11 tn Or “all that we valued has become a ruin.”
  24. Isaiah 64:12 tn Heb “because of these”; KJV, ASV “for these things.”

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

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!

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

Isaiah's prayer continues

64 Please Lord, break open the skies
    and come down to help us!
That would make the mountains shake!
You would come like a fire that burns up wood,
    and it causes water to boil.
The nations would shake with fear.
    Your enemies would know why your name is so great.
In the past, you did great things,
    and they surprised us.
You came down and the mountains shook with fear.
From the beginning, nobody has heard of any God like you.
You come to help those people who trust in you.
    Nobody has ever seen or heard of a God like you!
You help people who are happy when they do what is right.
    People like that obey your commands.
But we continued to do wrong things,
    even when you were angry with us.
We have done bad things for a long time,
    so will you ever come to save us?
Our sins have made us all like unclean people,
    who cannot worship you.
Even the good things that we try to do
    are like dirty bits of cloth.
Our sins will blow us all away,
    as the wind blows away dead leaves.
Nobody prays in your name,
    or calls out to you to help them.
It seems that you have turned away from us.
    You have left us for our sins to rule us.
But Lord, you are still our Father.
We are like clay that you have used.
    You are like the potter who has made us into pots.
You made us all with your own hands.
Lord, please do not be too angry with us.
    Do not hold our sins in your mind for ever.
Do not forget us!
    We are your people, all of us!
10 Your holy cities are as empty as a desert.
    Yes, Zion has become a desert.
    Jerusalem is just a heap of stones.
11 Our ancestors praised you
    here in your temple.
It was a beautiful place that we were proud of.
But now fire has destroyed it.
    All our beautiful things are completely spoiled.
12 Lord, see what is happening and do something!
Will you continue to keep quiet?
    Will you continue to give us so much trouble?