Isaiah 64:2–12

^2has 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!

³When You did awesome works ⁱ

that we did not expect,

You came down, ^j

and the mountains quaked at Your presence.

⁴From 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. ^k

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? ^l

⁶All of us have become like something unclean,

and all our righteous acts are like a polluted ^mgarment; ⁿ

all of us wither like a leaf, ^o

and our iniquities ^pcarry 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 ^q

and made us melt because of ^rsour iniquity.

⁸Yet Lord, You are our Father; ^t

we are the clay, and You are our potter;

we all are the work of Your hands. ^u

⁹Lord, do not be terribly angry

or remember our iniquity forever. ^v

Please look—all of us are Your people!

¹⁰Your holy cities have become a wilderness;

Zion has become a wilderness,

Jerusalem a desolation. ^w

¹¹Our holy and beautiful ^xtemple,

where our fathers praised You,

has been burned with fire,

and all that was dear to us lies in ruins. ^y

¹²Lord, after all this, will You restrain Yourself?

Will You keep silent and afflict severely? ^z