Isa 64 | HCSB | STEP | If only You would tear the heavens open and come down , so that mountains would quake at Your presence

Isaiah 64

1 ^aIf only You would tear the heavens open

and come down, ^b
so that mountains would quake at Your presence ^c –
2 ^{▼▼Is 64:1 in Hb}as fire kindles the brushwood,
and fire causes water to boil –
to make Your name known to Your enemies,
so that nations will tremble at Your presence!
3 When You did awesome works ^e
that we did not expect,
You came down, ^f
and the mountains quaked at Your presence.
4 From ancient times no one has heard,
no one has listened,
no eye has seen any God except You,
who acts on behalf of the one who waits for Him. ^g
5 You welcome the one who joyfully does what is right;
they remember You in Your ways.
But we have sinned, and You were angry.
How can we be saved if we remain in our sins? ^{▼▼Lit angry; in them continually and we will be saved; Hb obscure}
6 All of us have become like something ^{▼▼unclean: When something is clean, it is holy or acceptable to God. When it is unclean, it is unholy (such as an unclean spirit). The term can be used in a ritual sense to apply to moral standards for living.}unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like a polluted ^{▼▼Lit menstrual} garment; ^k
all of us wither like a leaf, ^l
and our iniquities ^m carry us away like the wind.
7 No one calls on Your name,
striving to take hold of You.
For You have hidden Your face from us ⁿ
and made us melt because of ^{▼▼LXX, Syr, Vg, Tg read and delivered us into the hand of
,} ^{▼▼Lit melt by the hand} our iniquity.

8 Yet Lord, You are our Father; ^q
we are the clay, and You are our potter;
we all are the work of Your hands. ^r
9 Lord, do not be terribly angry
or remember our iniquity forever. ^s
Please look – all of us are Your people!
10 Your holy cities have become a wilderness;
^{▼▼Zion: Originally a term for the fortified section of Jerusalem and then, by extension, used for the temple and the city of Jerusalem both in the present time and in the future}Zion has become a wilderness,
Jerusalem a desolation. ^u
11 Our holy and beautiful ^{▼▼Or glorious; Isa 60:7} temple,
where our fathers praised You,
has been burned with fire,
and all that was dear to us lies in ruins. ^w
12 Lord, after all this, will You restrain Yourself?
Will You keep silent and afflict severely? ^x