| New International Version | NET Bible |
| 1Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you! | 1If only you would tear apart the sky and come down! The mountains would tremble before you! |
| 2As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil, come down to make your name known to your enemies and cause the nations to quake before you! | 2As when fire ignites dry wood, or fire makes water boil, let your adversaries know who you are, and may the nations shake at your presence! |
| 3For when you did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down, and the mountains trembled before you. | 3When you performed awesome deeds that took us by surprise, you came down, and the mountains trembled before you. |
| 4Since 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. | 4Since ancient times no one has heard or perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who intervenes for those who wait for him. |
| 5You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember your ways. But when we continued to sin against them, you were angry. How then can we be saved? | 5You assist those who delight in doing what is right, who observe your commandments. Look, you were angry because we violated them continually. How then can we be saved? |
| 6All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. | 6We are all like one who is unclean, all our so-called righteous acts are like a menstrual rag in your sight. We all wither like a leaf; our sins carry us away like the wind. |
| 7No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us and have given us over to our sins. | 7No one invokes your name, or makes an effort to take hold of you. For you have rejected us and handed us over to our own sins. |
| 8Yet you, LORD, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. | 8Yet, LORD, you are our father. We are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the product of your labor. |
| 9Do not be angry beyond measure, LORD; do not remember our sins forever. Oh, look on us, we pray, for we are all your people. | 9LORD, do not be too angry! Do not hold our sins against us continually! Take a good look at your people, at all of us! |
| 10Your sacred cities have become a wasteland; even Zion is a wasteland, Jerusalem a desolation. | 10Your chosen cities have become a desert; Zion has become a desert, Jerusalem is a desolate ruin. |
| 11Our holy and glorious temple, where our ancestors praised you, has been burned with fire, and all that we treasured lies in ruins. | 11Our holy temple, our pride and joy, the place where our ancestors praised you, has been burned with fire; all our prized possessions have been destroyed. |
| 12After all this, LORD, will you hold yourself back? Will you keep silent and punish us beyond measure? | 12In light of all this, how can you still hold back, LORD? How can you be silent and continue to humiliate us? |
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