Isaiah 64:1-12

  • Prayer of repentance continued (1-12)

    • Jehovah “our Potter” (8)

64  If only you had ripped the heavens apart and come down,So that the mountains would quake because of you,  2  As when a fire ignites the brushwood,And the fire makes the water boil,Then your name would be known to your adversaries,And the nations would tremble before you!  3  When you did awe-inspiring things that we dared not hope for,+You came down, and the mountains quaked before you.+  4  From of old no one has heard or given ear,Nor has any eye seen a God except you,Who acts in behalf of those who keep in expectation of* him.+  5  You have met up with those who joyfully do what is right,+Those who remember you and follow your ways. Look! You became indignant, while we kept sinning,+We did so for a long time. Should we now be saved?  6  And we have all become like someone unclean,And all our acts of righteousness are like a menstrual cloth.+ We will all wither like a leaf,And our errors will carry us off like the wind.  7  There is no one calling on your name,No one who stirs himself to take hold of you,For you have hidden your face from us,+And you cause us to waste away* because of* our error.  8  But now, O Jehovah, you are our Father.+ We are the clay, and you are our Potter;*+We are all the work of your hand.  9  Do not become too indignant, O Jehovah,+And do not remember our error forever. Look at us, please, for we are all your people. 10  Your holy cities have become a wilderness. Zion has become a wilderness,Jerusalem a wasteland.+ 11  Our house* of holiness and glory,*Where our forefathers praised you,Has been burned with fire,+And all the things we cherished lie in ruins. 12  In view of this, will you still restrain yourself, O Jehovah? Will you remain silent and let us be afflicted so severely?+

Footnotes

Or “patiently wait for.”
Lit., “by the hand of.”
Lit., “to melt.”
Or “the One who formed us.”
Or “temple.”
Or “beauty.”