Isaiah 64:6-12

6 We're all sin-infected, sin-contaminated. Our best efforts are grease-stained rags. We dry up like autumn leaves - sin-dried, we're blown off by the wind.
7 No one prays to you or makes the effort to reach out to you Because you've turned away from us, left us to stew in our sins.
8 Still, God, you are our Father. We're the clay and you're our potter: All of us are what you made us.
9 Don't be too angry with us, O God. Don't keep a permanent account of wrongdoing. Keep in mind, please, we are your people - all of us.
10 Your holy cities are all ghost towns: Zion's a ghost town, Jerusalem's a field of weeds.
11 Our holy and beautiful Temple, which our ancestors filled with your praises, Was burned down by fire, all our lovely parks and gardens in ruins.
12 In the face of all this, are you going to sit there unmoved, God? Aren't you going to say something? Haven't you made us miserable long enough?
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.