Isaiah 64

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

1We wish you would tear open the sky and come down to us. Then the mountains would shake when you came near.

2As 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!

2Come like a fire that burns up dry sticks. Come like a fire that makes water boil. Then the people who hate you would learn who you are. Then the nations would shake when you came near.

3When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou camest down, the mountains flowed down at thy presence.

3Long ago you did awesome things we never expected. You came down, and the mountains shook when you came near.

NoteIn 1611 English, "terrible things" meant things that filled people with awe, not things that were badly done.

4For 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.

4Since the world began, no one has heard of a God like you. No ear has heard it. No eye has seen it. You are the only one. You go to work for the people who wait for you.

5Thou 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.

5You come to meet people who are glad to do what is right. You meet people who remember your ways. But you were angry with us, because we sinned. We kept on sinning for a long time. So how can we be saved?

NoteThe end of this verse is hard to read in Hebrew. Older English Bibles say "in those is continuance, and we shall be saved." Newer ones read it as a question: how can we be saved if we keep on sinning?

6But 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.

6All of us have become dirty. Even the good things we do are like filthy rags. We all dry up like a dead leaf. Our sins blow us away like the wind.

7And 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.

7Nobody calls out to you now. Nobody tries hard to hold on to you. You have hidden your face from us. You have handed us over to our own sins.

8But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.

8But now, LORD, you are our father. We are the clay, and you are the potter who shapes us. We are all made by your hands.

9Be not wroth very sore, O LORD, neither remember iniquity for ever: behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people.

9Please do not stay so angry, LORD. Please do not remember our sins forever. Look at us, we beg you. We are all your people.

10Thy holy cities are a wilderness, Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.

10Your holy cities have become empty land. Zion is empty. Jerusalem is a pile of ruins.

11Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned up with fire: and all our pleasant things are laid waste.

11Our holy and beautiful house, the temple where our fathers praised you, has burned down. Everything we loved is broken and ruined.

12Wilt thou refrain thyself for these things, O LORD? wilt thou hold thy peace, and afflict us very sore?

12After all this, LORD, will you hold yourself back? Will you stay quiet and let us hurt so much?