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Chapter 64

As when brushwood is set ablaze,
    or fire makes the water boil!
Then your name would be made known to your enemies
    and the nations would tremble before you,
While you worked awesome deeds we could not hope for,[a]
    such as had not been heard of from of old.
No ear has ever heard, no eye ever seen,
    any God but you
    working such deeds for those who wait for him.(A)
Would that you might meet us doing right,
    that we might be mindful of you in our ways!
Indeed, you are angry; we have sinned,
    we have acted wickedly.
We have all become like something unclean,
    all our just deeds are like polluted rags;
We have all withered like leaves,
    and our crimes carry us away like the wind.(B)
There are none who call upon your name,
    none who rouse themselves to take hold of you;
For you have hidden your face from us
    and have delivered us up to our crimes.

A Final Plea

[b]Yet, Lord, you are our father;
    we are the clay and you our potter:
    we are all the work of your hand.
Do not be so very angry, Lord,
    do not remember our crimes forever;
    look upon us, who are all your people!
Your holy cities have become a wilderness;
    Zion has become wilderness, Jerusalem desolation!(C)
10 Our holy and glorious house
    in which our ancestors praised you
Has been burned with fire;
    all that was dear to us is laid waste.
11 Can you hold back, Lord, after all this?
    Can you remain silent, and afflict us so severely?

Footnotes

  1. 64:2 The translation here omits some words repeated in the Hebrew from 63:19 (“would that you would come down, with the mountains trembling before you”).
  2. 64:7–11 The motifs of father (63:16) and creator (clay and potter, 29:16; 45:9) are adduced to move the Lord to action in view of the damage done to his “holy cities” and “glorious house.”

64 [a]Oh, that you would rend the heavens(A) and come down,(B)
    that the mountains(C) would tremble before you!
As 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!
For when you did awesome(F) things that we did not expect,
    you came down, and the mountains trembled(G) before you.
Since 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)
You 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?
All 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)
No 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.

Yet you, Lord, are our Father.(T)
    We are the clay, you are the potter;(U)
    we are all the work of your hand.(V)
Do 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)
10 Your sacred cities(Z) have become a wasteland;
    even Zion is a wasteland, Jerusalem a desolation.(AA)
11 Our holy and glorious temple,(AB) where our ancestors praised you,
    has been burned with fire,
    and all that we treasured(AC) lies in ruins.
12 After all this, Lord, will you hold yourself back?(AD)
    Will you keep silent(AE) and punish us beyond measure?

Footnotes

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