Isaiah 64:1-12

God, if only you would tear open the heavenly realm and come down! How the mountains would tremble in your awesome presence! In the same way that fire sets kindling to blaze and causes water to boil, let the fire of your presence come down. Reveal to your enemies your mighty name and cause the nations to tremble before you! When you did amazing wonders we didn’t expect, you came down, and mountains shuddered in your presence! These amazing things had never been heard of before; you did things never dreamed of! No one perceived your greatness. No eye has ever seen a God like you, who intervenes for those who wait and long for you! Those who delight in doing what is right— you go out to meet them with kindness. They remember you and cherish your ways. You showed your anger when we sinned again and again, yet we can be saved. We have all become contaminated with sin, and you see our self-righteousness as nothing better than a menstrual rag. We are all like fallen leaves, and our sins sweep us away like the wind. No one calls on your name or presses in to lay hold of you, for you have hidden your face from us. You have let us be ruined by our own sins. Yet still, YAHWEH, you are our Father. We are like clay and you are our Potter. Each one of us is the creative, artistic work of your hands. YAHWEH, don’t be angry with us! Don’t remember our sins again forever! Please look at us; we are your people. Your sacred cities are abandoned like a desert; Zion is a wasteland; Jerusalem sits in ruins. Our holy temple, our source of pride, where our ancestors sang your praise, has been consumed by fire. All that we held dear has been destroyed. Now, YAHWEH, after all this, are you still unmoved? Will you continue to stand silently by and afflict us so severely?