Isaiah 64

Living Bible

64 Oh, that you would burst forth from the skies and come down! How the mountains would quake in your presence! ² The consuming fire of your glory would burn down the forests and boil the oceans dry. The nations would tremble before you; then your enemies would learn the reason for your fame! ³ So it was before when you came down, for you did awesome things beyond our highest expectations, and how the mountains quaked! ⁴ For since the world began no one has seen or heard of such a God as ours, who works for those who wait for him! ⁵ You welcome those who cheerfully do good, who follow godly ways.

But we are not godly; we are constant sinners and have been all our lives. Therefore your wrath is heavy on us. How can such as we be saved? ⁶ We are all infected and impure with sin. When we put on our prized robes of righteousness, we find they are but filthy rags.^[a] Like autumn leaves we fade, wither, and fall. And our sins, like the wind, sweep us away. ⁷ Yet no one calls upon your name or pleads with you for mercy. Therefore, you have turned away from us and turned us over to our sins.

⁸ And yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay and you are the Potter. We are all formed by your hand. ⁹ Oh, be not so angry with us, Lord, nor forever remember our sins. Oh, look and see that we are all your people.

¹⁰ Your holy cities are destroyed; Jerusalem is a desolate wilderness. ¹¹ Our holy, beautiful Temple where our fathers praised you is burned down, and all the things of beauty are destroyed. ¹² After all of this, must you still refuse to help us, Lord? Will you stand silent and still punish us?