aOh that you would rend the heavens and come down,
bthat the mountains might quake at your presence—
2 as when fire kindles brushwood
and the fire causes water to boil—
ato make your name known to your adversaries,
and that the nations might tremble at your presence!
3 aWhen you did awesome things that we did not look for,
you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.
4 aFrom of old no one has heard
or perceived by the ear,
bno eye has seen a God besides you,
who acts for those who wait for him.
5 You meet him who joyfully works righteousness,
those who remember you in your ways.
Behold, you were angry, and we sinned;
in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved?
6 aWe have all become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
bWe all fade like a leaf,
and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
7 aThere is no one who calls upon your name,
who rouses himself to take hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us,
and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities.
8 aBut now, O Lord, you are our Father;
bwe are the clay, and you are our potter;
cwe are all the work of your hand.
9 aBe not so terribly angry, O Lord,
band remember not iniquity forever.
Behold, please look, we are all your people.
10 aYour holy cities have become a wilderness;
Zion has become a wilderness,
Jerusalem a desolation.
11 aOur holy and beautiful house,
where our fathers praised you,
has been burned by fire,
and all our pleasant places have become ruins.
12 aWill you restrain yourself at these things, O Lord?
Will you keep silent, and afflict us so terribly?