1Oh, that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so the mountains would tremble at your presence!
2As fire sets branches ablaze and makes water boil, make your name known to your enemies, so the nations may tremble at your presence!
3When you did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down, and the mountains trembled at your presence.
4For 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.
5You welcome those who joyfully do what is right, those who remember you in your ways. But you were angry, and we sinned. We have been living in sin for a long time. Can we be saved?
6We have all become like someone who is unclean, and all our good deeds are like a dirty rag. We all wither like a leaf, and our sins carry us away like the wind.
7No one calls on your name; no one tries to hold onto you. This is because you have hidden your face from us and have allowed our sins to destroy us.
8But now, Yahweh, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are our potter. We are all the work of your hand.
9Don’t be so angry, Yahweh, and don’t remember our sins forever. Look, please, we are all your people.
10Your holy cities have become a wilderness. Zion has become a wilderness; Jerusalem is a wasteland.
11Our holy and beautiful temple, where our ancestors praised you, has been burned with fire. All our pleasant places are ruined.
12Will you hold back at all these things, Yahweh? Will you remain silent and punish us so severely?