Isaiah 64

Berean Standard Bible

Chapter summary

The prophet implores God to tear open the heavens and descend, causing the mountains to quake and nations to tremble before Him as He did in past unexpected deeds. He acknowledges that no other God acts for those who wait on Him, yet confesses that the people have sinned, become unclean, and persisted in their iniquities without calling upon the Lord's name. Describing God as the potter and the people as the clay, the speaker asks the Lord not to remain excessively angry or remember sin forever. The passage details the destruction of the holy cities, noting that Zion and Jerusalem are desolate, and the revered temple where ancestors praised God has been consumed by fire. Finally, the speaker questions whether the Lord will restrain Himself, remain silent, and continue to afflict His people after all these ruins.

Summary automatically generated from the Bible text.

Words of Jesus in red

¹If only You would rend the heavens and come down, so that mountains would quake at Your presence, ²as fire kindles the brushwood and causes the water to boil, to make Your name known to Your enemies, so that the nations will tremble at Your presence! ³When You did awesome works that we did not expect, You came down, and the mountains trembled at Your presence. ⁴From ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides You, who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him. ⁵You welcome those who gladly do right, who remember Your ways. Surely You were angry, for we sinned. How can we be saved if we remain in our sins? ⁶Each of us has become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind. ⁷No one calls on Your name or strives to take hold of You. For You have hidden Your face from us and delivered us into the hand of our iniquity. ⁸But now, O LORD, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are the potter; we are all the work of Your hand. ⁹Do not be angry, O LORD, beyond measure; do not remember our iniquity forever. Oh, look upon us, we pray; we are all Your people! ¹⁰Your holy cities have become a wilderness. Zion has become a wasteland and Jerusalem a desolation. ¹¹Our holy and beautiful temple, where our fathers praised You, has been burned with fire, and all that was dear to us lies in ruins. ¹²After all this, O LORD, will You restrain Yourself? Will You keep silent and afflict us beyond measure?

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Louis Segond 1910 and Berean Standard Bible: public domain. Cross references: open-cross-ref, Creative Commons BY 4.0.