Isaiah, 64
1. as fire sets brushwood alight, as fire makes water boil -- to make your name known to your foes; the nations would tremble at your presence,
1. O that thou wouldst rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at thy presence --
2. at the unexpected miracles you would do. (Oh, that you would come down, in your presence the mountains would quake!)
2. as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil -- to make thy name known to thy adversaries, and that the nations might tremble at thy presence!
3. Never has anyone heard, no ear has heard, no eye has seen any god but you act like this for the sake of those who trust him.
3. When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou camest down, the mountains quaked at thy presence.
4. You come to meet those who are happy to act uprightly; keeping your ways reminds them of you. Yes, you have been angry and we have been sinners; now we persist in your ways and we shall be saved.
4. From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides thee, who works for those who wait for him.
5. We have all been like unclean things and our upright deeds like filthy rags. We wither, all of us, like leaves, and all our misdeeds carry us off like the wind.
5. Thou meetest him that joyfully works righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways. Behold, thou wast angry, and we sinned; in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved?
6. There is no one to invoke your name, to rouse himself to hold fast to you, for you have hidden your face from us and given us up to the power of our misdeeds.
6. We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
7. And yet, Yahweh, you are our Father; we the clay and you our potter, all of us are the work of your hands.
7. There is no one that calls upon thy name, that bestirs himself to take hold of thee; for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast delivered us into the hand of our iniquities.
8. Yahweh, do not let your anger go too far and do not remember guilt for ever. Look, please, we are all your people;
8. Yet, O LORD, thou art our Father; we are the clay, and thou art our potter; we are all the work of thy hand.
9. your holy cities have become a desert, Zion has become a desert, Jerusalem a wasteland.
9. Be not exceedingly angry, O LORD, and remember not iniquity for ever. Behold, consider, we are all thy people.
10. Our holy and glorious Temple, in which our ancestors used to praise you, has been burnt to the ground; all our delight lies in ruins.
10. Thy holy cities have become a wilderness, Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.
11. Yahweh, can you restrain yourself at all this? Will you stay silent and afflict us beyond endurance?
11. Our holy and beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, has been burned by fire, and all our pleasant places have become ruins.
12.
12. Wilt thou restrain thyself at these things, O LORD? Wilt thou keep silent, and afflict us sorely?
