1 D idst Thou not rend the heavens? Thou didst come down, From thy presence did mountains flow,

If only You would tear open the heavens and come down! The mountains would shake before You,

2 ( As fire kindleth stubble -- Fire causeth water to boil,) To make known Thy name to Thine adversaries, From Thy presence do nations tremble.

as when fire burns the wood and causes the water to boil. Come and make Your name known to those who are against you, that the nations may shake in fear before You!

3 I n Thy doing fearful things -- we expect not, Thou didst come down, From Thy presence did mountains flow.

When You did powerful things which we did not expect, You came down, and the mountains shook before You.

4 E ven from antiquity have not heard, They have not given ear, Eye hath not seen a God save Thee, He doth work for those waiting for Him.

From long ago no ear has heard and no eye has seen any God besides You, Who works for those who wait for Him.

5 T hou hast met with the rejoicer And the doer of righteousness, In Thy ways they remember Thee, Lo, Thou hast been wroth when we sin, By them continuance, and we are saved.

You meet him who finds joy in doing what is right and good, who remembers You in Your ways. See, You were angry because we sinned. We have been sinning for a long time, and will we be saved?

6 A nd we are as unclean -- all of us, And as a garment passing away, all our righteous acts; And we fade as a leaf -- all of us. And our iniquities as wind do take us away.

All of us have become like one who is unclean. All our right and good works are like dirty pieces of cloth. And all of us dry up like a leaf. Our sins take us away like the wind.

7 A nd there is none calling in Thy name, Stirring up himself to lay hold on Thee, For Thou hast hid Thy face from us, And thou meltest us away by our iniquities.

There is no one who calls on Your name, who stirs himself up to take hold of You. For You have hidden Your face from us, and have given us over to the power of our sins.

8 A nd now, O Jehovah, thou our Father, We the clay, and Thou our Framer, And the work of Thy hand -- all of us.

But now, O Lord, You are our Father. We are the clay, and You are our pot maker. All of us are the work of Your hand.

9 B e not wroth, O Jehovah, very sore, Nor for ever remember iniquity, Lo, look attentively, we beseech Thee, Thy people we all.

Do not be so angry, O Lord. Do not remember our sin forever. Look now, all of us are Your people.

10 T hy holy cities have been a wilderness, Zion a wilderness hath been, Jerusalem a desolation.

Your holy cities have become a waste place. Zion has become a waste place. Jerusalem lies destroyed.

11 O ur holy and our beautiful house, Where praise Thee did our fathers, Hath become burnt with fire, And all our desirable things have become a waste.

Our holy and beautiful house, where our fathers praised You, has been burned by fire. And all our things of great worth have been destroyed.

12 F or these dost Thou refrain Thyself, Jehovah? Thou art silent, and dost afflict us very sore!'

Will You do nothing after seeing these things, O Lord? Will You keep quiet and make us suffer even more?