1 Oh that thou would rend the heavens, that thou would come down, that the mountains might quake at thy presence,

2 as when fire kindles the brushwood, [and] the fire causes the waters to boil, to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence!

3 When thou did fearful things which we did not look for, thou came down; the mountains quaked at thy presence.

4 For from of old men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither has the eye seen, O God, besides thee, [what] he has prepared for him who waits for him.

5 Thou meet him who rejoices and works righteousness, those who remember thee in thy ways. Behold, thou were angry, and we sinned. Therefore we have erred.

6 For we have all become as unclean, and all our righteous acts are as a polluted garment. And we all fade as a leaf. And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

7 And there is none who calls upon thy name, who stirs himself up to take hold of thee. For thou have hid thy face from us, and have consumed us through our iniquities.

8 But now, O LORD, thou are our Father. We are the clay, and thou our potter, and we are all the work of thy hand.

9 Be not angry very severely, O LORD, nor remember iniquity forever. Behold, look, we beseech thee, we are all thy people.

10 Thy holy cities have become a wilderness. Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.

11 Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned with fire, and all our pleasant places are laid waste.

12 Will thou restrain thyself for these things, O LORD? Will thou hold thy peace, and afflict us very severely?