Isaiah 64

Prayer for Mercy

1 p Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down,
q that the mountains might quake at your presence -
2 1 as when fire kindles brushwood
and the fire causes water to boil -
r to make your name known to your adversaries,
and that the nations might tremble at your presence!
 3 s When you did awesome things that we did not look for,
you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.
 4 t From of old no one has heard
or perceived by the ear,
u no eye has seen a God besides you,
who acts for those who wait for him.
 5 You meet him who joyfully works righteousness,
those who remember you in your ways.
Behold, you were angry, and we sinned;
in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved? 2
6 v We have all become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
w We all fade like a leaf,
and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
 7 x There is no one who calls upon your name,
who rouses himself to take hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us,
and have made us melt in 3 the hand of our iniquities.

8 y But now, O Lord, you are our Father;
z we are the clay, and you are our potter;
a we are all the work of your hand.
 9 b Be not so terribly angry, O Lord,
c and remember not iniquity forever.
Behold, please look, we are all your people.
 10 d Your holy cities have become a wilderness;
Zion has become a wilderness,
Jerusalem a desolation.
 11 e Our holy and beautiful 4 house,
where our fathers praised you,
has been burned by fire,
and all our pleasant places have become ruins.
 12 f Will you restrain yourself at these things, O Lord?
Will you keep silent, and afflict us so terribly?

  1. Cross References
    2 Samuel 22:10
    He bowed the heavens and came down; thick darkness was under his feet.
    Psalms 18:9
    He bowed the heavens and came down; thick darkness was under his feet.
    Psalms 144:5
    Bow your heavens, O Lord, and come down! Touch the mountains so that they smoke!
  2. Cross References
    Judges 5:5
    The mountains quaked before the Lord, even Sinai before the Lord, the God of Israel.
    Micah 1:4
    And the mountains will melt under him, and the valleys will split open, like wax before the fire, like waters poured down a steep place.
  3. Cross References
    Joshua 2:9 - 10
    And said to the men, "I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you.
  4. Cross References
    Exodus 14:13
    And Moses said to the people, "Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.
    Exodus 15:11
    Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?
  5. Cross References
    Psalms 31:19
    Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of the children of mankind!
  6. Cross References
    1 Corinthians 2:9
    But, as it is written, "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him" -
  7. Cross References
    Isaiah 59:12 - 15
    For our transgressions are multiplied before you, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us, and we know our iniquities:
  8. Cross References
    Psalms 90:5 - 6
    You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning:
  9. Cross References
    Isaiah 43:22
    Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob; but you have been weary of me, O Israel!
    Hosea 7:7
    All of them are hot as an oven, and they devour their rulers. All their kings have fallen, and none of them calls upon me.
  10. Cross References
    Isaiah 63:16
    For you are our Father, though Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us; you, O Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name.
  11. Cross References
    Isaiah 45:9
    Woe to him who strives with him who formed him, a pot among earthen pots! Does the clay say to him who forms it, 'What are you making?' or 'Your work has no handles'?
    Romans 9:20 - 21
    But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, "Why have you made me like this?
  12. Cross References
    Isaiah 29:23
    For when he sees his children, the work of my hands, in his midst, they will sanctify my name; they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
    Isaiah 45:11
    Thus says the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and the one who formed him: "Ask me of things to come; will you command me concerning my children and the work of my hands?
  13. Cross References
    Isaiah 57:16
    For I will not contend forever, nor will I always be angry; for the spirit would grow faint before me, and the breath of life that I made.
    Psalms 74:1 - 2
    O God, why do you cast us off forever? Why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture?
  14. Cross References
    Psalms 79:8
    Do not remember against us our former iniquities; let your compassion come speedily to meet us, for we are brought very low.
  15. Cross References
    Nehemiah 1:3
    And they said to me, "The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.
    Nehemiah 2:3
    I said to the king, "Let the king live forever! Why should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' graves, lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?
  16. Cross References
    Haggai 1:9
    You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the Lord of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house.
    Haggai 2:3
    Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes?
    2 Kings 25:9
    And he burned the house of the Lord and the king's house and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down.
    2 Chronicles 36:19
    And they burned the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem and burned all its palaces with fire and destroyed all its precious vessels.
    Psalms 74:7
    They set your sanctuary on fire; they profaned the dwelling place of your name, bringing it down to the ground.
  17. Cross References
    Isaiah 42:14
    For a long time I have held my peace; I have kept still and restrained myself; now I will cry out like a woman in labor; I will gasp and pant.
    Zechariah 1:12
    Then the angel of the Lord said, 'O Lord of hosts, how long will you have no mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, against which you have been angry these seventy years?
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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