Isaiah 64

Come down, our Father and potter

¹Come down like fire that sets dry brush alight, like fire that brings water to the boil; make your name known to your foes, and let the nations tremble before you. ²When you did fearsome things beyond all we had hoped, you came down, and the mountains shook before you.^{a 3}Never since time began has anyone heard of it or taken it in; no eye has ever seen a God other than you, one who works for those who wait for him. ⁴You go out to meet the one who delights in doing righteousness, those who keep you in mind as they walk in your ways. But you were angry, and we sinned. We have stayed in our sins so long; can we be saved?^{b 5}We have all turned into something unclean; our righteous deeds, every one, are like a cloth soiled by a woman’s monthly blood. We fade like leaves, all of us, and our guilt carries us off like the wind.^{c 6}Not one of us calls on your name; no one stirs to hold on to you. For you have hidden your face from us and let us melt away in the grip of our guilt.^{d 7}But now, LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you the potter who shaped us; every one of us is what your hand has made. ⁸LORD, do not let your anger go too far, and do not keep our guilt in mind forever. Look at us, we beg you: all of us are your people. ⁹Your holy cities have turned into open wilderness. Zion is now a wilderness; Jerusalem lies desolate. ¹⁰Our holy and splendid house, where our ancestors once praised you, has been given to the fire, and every precious thing we had is now rubble. ¹¹With all this before you, LORD, will you still hold yourself back? Will you keep silent and afflict us so severely?