1 Oh, that You would¹ rend the heavens!
That You would come down!
That the mountains might shake at Your ^apresence— ‡

2 As fire burns brushwood,
As fire causes water to boil—
To make Your name known to Your adversaries,
That the nations may tremble at Your presence!

3 When ^aYou did awesome things for which we did not look,
You came down,
The mountains shook at Your presence. ‡

4 For since the beginning of the world
^aMen have not heard nor perceived by the ear,
Nor has the eye seen any God besides You,
Who acts for the one who waits for Him. ‡

5 You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness,
Who remembers You in Your ways.
You are indeed angry, for we have sinned—
^aIn these ways we continue;
And we need to be saved. ‡

6 But we are all like an unclean thing,
And all ^aour righteousnesses are like filthy rags;
We all ^bfade as a leaf,
And our iniquities, like the wind,
Have taken us away. ‡

7 And 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 have¹ consumed us because of our iniquities. ‡

8 But now, O Lord,
You are our Father;
We are the clay, and You our ^apotter;
And all we are the work of Your hand. ‡

9 Do not be furious, O Lord,
Nor remember iniquity forever;
Indeed, please look—we all are Your people!

10 Your holy cities are a wilderness,
Zion is a wilderness,
Jerusalem a desolation.

11 Our holy and beautiful¹ temple,
Where our fathers praised You,
Is burned up with fire;
And all ^aour pleasant things are laid waste. ‡

12 ^aWill You¹ restrain Yourself because of these things, O Lord?
^bWill You hold Your peace, and afflict us very severely? ‡