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
1Rip the heavens apart!
Come down, Lord;
make the mountains tremble.
2Be a spark that starts a fire
causing water to boil.#64.2 Be … boil: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
Then your enemies will know
who you are;
all nations will tremble
because you are nearby.
3Your fearsome deeds
have completely amazed us;
even the mountains shake
when you come down.
4 #
1 Co 2.9. You are the only God
ever seen or heard of
who works miracles
for his followers.
5You help all who gladly obey
and do what you want,
but sin makes you angry.
Only by your help
can we ever be saved.#64.5 saved: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 5.
6We are unfit to worship you;
each of our good deeds
is merely a filthy rag.
We dry up like leaves;
our sins are storm winds
sweeping us away.
7No one worships in your name
or remains faithful.
You have turned your back on us
and let our sins melt us away.#64.7 and let … away: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
8You, Lord, are our Father.
We are nothing but clay,
but you are the potter
who molded us.
9Don't be so furious
or keep our sins
in your thoughts forever!
Remember that all of us
are your people.
10Every one of your towns
has turned into a desert,
especially Jerusalem.
11Zion's glorious and holy temple
where our ancestors praised you
has been destroyed by fire.
Our beautiful buildings
are now a pile of ruins.
12When you see these things,
how can you just sit there
and make us suffer more?
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.