1 Oh, that Thou wouldst rend the heavens [and] come down, That the mountains might quake at Thy presence –

2 As fire kindles the brushwood, [as] fire causes water to boil – To make Thy name known to Thine adversaries, [That] the nations may tremble at Thy presence!

3 When Thou didst awesome things which we did not expect, Thou didst come down, the mountains quaked at Thy presence.

4 For from of old they have not heard nor perceived by ear, Neither has the eye seen a God besides Thee, Who acts in behalf of the one who waits for Him.

5 Thou dost meet him who rejoices in doing righteousness, Who remembers Thee in Thy ways. Behold, Thou wast angry, for we sinned, [We continued] in them a long time; And shall we be saved?

6 For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

7 And there is no one who calls on Thy name, Who arouses himself to take hold of Thee; For Thou hast hidden Thy face from us, And hast delivered us into the power of our iniquities.

8 But now, O Lord, Thou art our Father, We are the clay, and Thou our potter; And all of us are the work of Thy hand.

9 Do not be angry beyond measure, O Lord, Neither remember iniquity forever; Behold, look now, all of us are Thy people.

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

11 Our holy and beautiful house, Where our fathers praised Thee, Has been burned [by] fire; And all our precious things have become a ruin.

12 Wilt Thou restrain Thyself at these things, O Lord? Wilt Thou keep silent and afflict us beyond measure?