Isaiah 64
64
Can We Be Saved?
1-7Oh, that you would rip open the heavens and descend,
make the mountains shudder at your presence—
As when a forest catches fire,
as when fire makes a pot to boil—
To shock your enemies into facing you,
make the nations shake in their boots!
You did terrible things we never expected,
descended and made the mountains shudder at your presence.
Since before time began
no one has ever imagined,
No ear heard, no eye seen, a God like you
who works for those who wait for him.
You meet those who happily do what is right,
who keep a good memory of the way you work.
But how angry you’ve been with us!
We’ve sinned and kept at it so long!
Is there any hope for us? Can we be saved?
We’re all sin-infected, sin-contaminated.
Our best efforts are grease-stained rags.
We dry up like autumn leaves—
sin-dried, we’re blown off by the wind.
No one prays to you
or makes the effort to reach out to you
Because you’ve turned away from us,
left us to stew in our sins.
8-12Still, God, you are our Father.
We’re the clay and you’re our potter:
All of us are what you made us.
Don’t be too angry with us, O God.
Don’t keep a permanent account of wrongdoing.
Keep in mind, please, we are your people—all of us.
Your holy cities are all ghost towns:
Zion’s a ghost town,
Jerusalem’s a field of weeds.
Our holy and beautiful Temple,
which our ancestors filled with your praises,
Was burned down by fire,
all our lovely parks and gardens in ruins.
In the face of all this,
are you going to sit there unmoved, God?
Aren’t you going to say something?
Haven’t you made us miserable long enough?
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Isaiah 64: MSG
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.
Isaiah 64
64
1If only you would tear the heavens open
and come down,#Ex 19:18; Ps 18:9; 144:5
so that mountains would quake at your presence#Jdg 5:5; Ps 68:8; Nah 1:5 —
2just as fire kindles brushwood,
and fire boils water —
to make your name known to your enemies,
so that nations would tremble at your presence!
3When you did awesome works#Dt 10:21; 2Sm 7:23; Ps 65:5
that we did not expect,
you came down,#Mc 1:3–4; Hab 3:13
and the mountains quaked at your presence.
4From ancient times no one has heard,
no one has listened to,
no eye has seen any God except you
who acts on behalf of the one who waits for him.#1Co 2:9
5You 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?#64:5 Lit angry; in them continually and we will be saved; Hb obscure
6All of us have become like something unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like a polluted#64:6 Lit menstrual garment;#Is 61:10; Php 3:7–9
all of us wither like a leaf,#Ps 90:5–6; Is 1:30
and our iniquities#Is 13:11 carry us away like the wind.
7No one calls on your name,
striving to take hold of you.
For you have hidden your face from us#Is 54:8
and made us melt because of#64:7 LXX, Syr, Vg, Tg read and delivered us into the hand of#64:7 Lit melt by the hand of our iniquity.
8Yet Lord, you are our Father;#Is 63:16
we are the clay, and you are our potter;
we all are the work of your hands.#Is 29:16; 45:9; Jr 18:2–6; Rm 9:20–21
9 Lord, do not be terribly angry
or remember our iniquity forever.#Is 43:25; 57:17; Mc 7:18
Please look — all of us are your people!
10Your holy cities have become a wilderness;
Zion has become a wilderness,
Jerusalem a desolation.#Is 62:4
11Our holy and beautiful#64:11 Or glorious; Is 60:7 temple,
where our ancestors praised you,
has been burned down,
and all that was dear to us lies in ruins.#2Kg 25:9; Ps 74:5–7; Is 63:18; Mt 23:38
12 Lord, after all this, will you restrain yourself?
Will you keep silent and afflict us severely?#Is 42:14
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