Isaiah 64:1-65:16

New International Version

64 ^[a]Oh, that you would rend the heavens^(A) and come down,^(B)
    that the mountains^(C) would tremble before you!
²As when fire sets twigs ablaze
    and causes water to boil,
come down to make your name^(D) known to your enemies
    and cause the nations to quake^(E) before you!
³For when you did awesome^(F) things that we did not expect,
    you came down, and the mountains trembled^(G) before you.
⁴Since ancient times no one has heard,
    no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any God besides you,^(H)
    who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.^(I)
⁵You come to the help of those who gladly do right,^(J)
    who remember your ways.
But when we continued to sin against them,
    you were angry.^(K)
    How then can we be saved?
⁶All of us have become like one who is unclean,^(L)
    and all our righteous^(M) acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,^(N)
    and like the wind our sins sweep us away.^(O)
⁷No one^(P) calls on your name^(Q)
    or strives to lay hold of you;
for you have hidden^(R) your face from us
    and have given us over^(S) to^[b] our sins.

⁸Yet you, Lord, are our Father.^(T)
    We are the clay, you are the potter;^(U)
    we are all the work of your hand.^(V)
⁹Do not be angry^(W) beyond measure, Lord;
    do not remember our sins^(X) forever.
Oh, look on us, we pray,
    for we are all your people.^(Y)
¹⁰Your sacred cities^(Z) have become a wasteland;
    even Zion is a wasteland, Jerusalem a desolation.^(AA)
¹¹Our holy and glorious temple,^(AB) where our ancestors praised you,
    has been burned with fire,
    and all that we treasured^(AC) lies in ruins.
¹²After all this, Lord, will you hold yourself back?^(AD)
    Will you keep silent^(AE) and punish us beyond measure?

Judgment and Salvation

65 “I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me;
    I was found by those who did not seek me.^(AF)
To a nation^(AG) that did not call on my name,^(AH)
    I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.’
²All day long I have held out my hands
    to an obstinate people,^(AI)
who walk in ways not good,
    pursuing their own imaginations^(AJ)—
³a people who continually provoke me
    to my very face,^(AK)
offering sacrifices in gardens^(AL)
    and burning incense^(AM) on altars of brick;
⁴who sit among the graves^(AN)
    and spend their nights keeping secret vigil;
who eat the flesh of pigs,^(AO)
    and whose pots hold broth of impure meat;
⁵who say, ‘Keep away; don’t come near me,
    for I am too sacred^(AP) for you!’
Such people are smoke^(AQ) in my nostrils,
    a fire that keeps burning all day.

⁶“See, it stands written before me:
    I will not keep silent^(AR) but will pay back^(AS) in full;
    I will pay it back into their laps^(AT)—
⁷both your sins^(AU) and the sins of your ancestors,”^(AV)
    says the Lord.
“Because they burned sacrifices on the mountains
    and defied me on the hills,^(AW)
I will measure into their laps
    the full payment^(AX) for their former deeds.”

⁸This is what the Lord says:

“As when juice is still found in a cluster of grapes^(AY)
    and people say, ‘Don’t destroy it,
    there is still a blessing in it,’
so will I do in behalf of my servants;^(AZ)
    I will not destroy them all.
⁹I will bring forth descendants^(BA) from Jacob,
    and from Judah those who will possess^(BB) my mountains;
my chosen^(BC) people will inherit them,
    and there will my servants live.^(BD)
¹⁰Sharon^(BE) will become a pasture for flocks,^(BF)
    and the Valley of Achor^(BG) a resting place for herds,
    for my people who seek^(BH) me.

¹¹“But as for you who forsake^(BI) the Lord
    and forget my holy mountain,^(BJ)
who spread a table for Fortune
    and fill bowls of mixed wine^(BK) for Destiny,
¹²I will destine you for the sword,^(BL)
    and all of you will fall in the slaughter;^(BM)
for I called but you did not answer,^(BN)
    I spoke but you did not listen.^(BO)
You did evil in my sight
    and chose what displeases me.”^(BP)

¹³Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“My servants will eat,^(BQ)
    but you will go hungry;^(BR)
my servants will drink,^(BS)
    but you will go thirsty;^(BT)
my servants will rejoice,^(BU)
    but you will be put to shame.^(BV)
¹⁴My servants will sing^(BW)
    out of the joy of their hearts,
but you will cry out^(BX)
    from anguish of heart
    and wail in brokenness of spirit.
¹⁵You will leave your name
    for my chosen ones to use in their curses;^(BY)
the Sovereign Lord will put you to death,
    but to his servants he will give another name.^(BZ)
¹⁶Whoever invokes a blessing^(CA) in the land
    will do so by the one true God;^(CB)
whoever takes an oath in the land
    will swear^(CC) by the one true God.
For the past troubles^(CD) will be forgotten
    and hidden from my eyes.

Footnotes

Isaiah 64:1 In Hebrew texts 64:1 is numbered 63:19b, and 64:2-12 is numbered 64:1-11.
Isaiah 64:7 Septuagint, Syriac and Targum; Hebrew have made us melt because of