Isaiah 64:6-12

6 All of us have become like someone who is "unclean." All of the good things we do are like polluted rags to you. All of us are like leaves that have dried up. Our sins sweep us away like the wind.

7 No one prays to you. No one asks you for help. You have turned your face away from us. You have let us waste away because we have sinned so much.

8 Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay. You are the potter. Your hands made all of us.

9 Don't be so angry with us, Lord. Don't remember our sins anymore. Please show us your favor. All of us belong to you.

10 Your sacred cities have become a desert. Even Zion is a desert. Jerusalem is a dry and empty place.

11 Our people used to praise you in our holy and glorious temple. But now it has been burned down. Everything we treasured has been destroyed.

12 Lord, won't you help us even after everything that's happened? Will you keep silent and punish us more than we can stand?

Isaiah 64:6-12 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 64

The prayer of the church is continued in this chapter; in which she prays for some visible display of the power and presence of God, as in times past, Isa 64:1-3, and the rather, since unheard of and unseen things were prepared by the Lord for his people; and it was his usual way to meet those that were truly religious, Isa 64:4,5, and she acknowledges her sins and transgressions; the imperfections of her own righteousness, and remissness in duty, Isa 64:5-7, pleads relation to God, and implores his mercy, Isa 64:8,9, represents the desolate condition of Judea, Zion, Jerusalem, and the temple, and entreats divine commiseration, Isa 64:10-12.