Revised Standard Version RSV
New International Version NIV
1 O that thou wouldst rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at thy presence--
1
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you!
2 as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil--to make thy name known to thy adversaries, and that the nations might tremble at thy presence!
2
As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil, come down to make your name known to your enemies and cause the nations to quake before you!
3 When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou camest down, the mountains quaked at thy presence.
3
For when you did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down, and the mountains trembled before you.
4 From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides thee, who works for those who wait for him.
4
Since 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.
5 Thou meetest him that joyfully works righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways. Behold, thou wast angry, and we sinned; in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved?
5
You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember your ways. But when we continued to sin against them, you were angry. How then can we be saved?
6 We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
6
All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
7 There is no one that calls upon thy name, that bestirs himself to take hold of thee; for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast delivered us into the hand of our iniquities.
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No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us and have given us over to our sins.
8 Yet, O LORD, thou art our Father; we are the clay, and thou art our potter; we are all the work of thy hand.
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Yet you, LORD, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.
9 Be not exceedingly angry, O LORD, and remember not iniquity for ever. Behold, consider, we are all thy people.
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Do not be angry beyond measure, LORD; do not remember our sins forever. Oh, look on us, we pray, for we are all your people.
10 Thy holy cities have become a wilderness, Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.
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Your sacred cities have become a wasteland; even Zion is a wasteland, Jerusalem a desolation.
11 Our holy and beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, has been burned by fire, and all our pleasant places have become ruins.
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Our holy and glorious temple, where our ancestors praised you, has been burned with fire, and all that we treasured lies in ruins.
12 Wilt thou restrain thyself at these things, O LORD? Wilt thou keep silent, and afflict us sorely?
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After all this, LORD, will you hold yourself back? Will you keep silent and punish us beyond measure?
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.