[1] Oh, that You would tear open the heavens and come down, That the mountains might quake at Your presence— [2] As [sure as] fire kindles the brushwood, as fire causes water to boil—To make Your name known to Your adversaries, That the nations may tremble at Your presence! [3] When You did awesome and amazing things which we did not expect, You came down [at Sinai]; the mountains quaked at Your presence. [4] For from days of old no one has heard, nor has ear perceived, Nor has the eye seen a God besides You, Who works and acts in behalf of the one who [gladly] waits for Him. [5] You meet him who rejoices in doing that which is morally right, Who remembers You in Your ways. Indeed, You were angry, for we sinned; We have long continued in our sins [prolonging Your anger]. And shall we be saved [under such circumstances]? [6] For we all have become like one who is [ceremonially] unclean [like a leper], And all our deeds of righteousness are like filthy rags; We all wither and decay like a leaf, And our wickedness [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing], like the wind, takes us away [carrying us far from God’s favor, toward destruction]. [7] There is no one who calls on Your name, Who awakens and causes himself to take hold of You; For You have hidden Your face from us And have handed us over to the [consuming and destructive] power of our wickedness [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing]. [8] Yet, O LORD, You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our Potter, And we all are the work of Your hand. [9] Do not be angry beyond measure, O LORD, Do not remember our wickedness [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing] forever. Now look, consider, for we are all Your people. [10] Your holy cities have become a wilderness, Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. [11] Our holy and beautiful house [the temple built by Solomon], Where our fathers praised You, Has been burned by fire; And all our precious objects are in ruins. [12] Considering these [tragedies], will You restrain Yourself, O LORD [and not help us]? Will You keep silent and humiliate and oppress us beyond measure?
