1 Oh, that You {YHWH, Heavenly Descender} would tear open the heavens and come down, that in Your presence {mipanekha: before Your face} the mountains would quake {nazolu: flow and tremble}.
2 As when fire {esh: intense blaze} kindles brushwood and causes water to boil, so let the fire make Your {YHWH, Almighty Sovereign} name known to Your adversaries, so that nations may tremble before You.
3 When You {YHWH, Wonder-Worker} did awesome things {nora’ot: awe-inspiring acts} that we did not expect, You descended, and the mountains flowed away from Your presence.
4 And from ancient times{me’olam: everlasting past}, no one has heard, no ear has perceived, and no eye has seen God{Elohim, Sole Originator} besides You, who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him.
5 You {YHWH, Righteous Judge} meet the one who rejoices and practices righteousness {tsedeq: moral rightness}, those who remember You in Your ways; behold, You were angry, and we have sinned; in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved?
6 And we all became like the unclean, and all our righteous deeds {tzidkoteinu: outward acts seeking moral uprightness} were like a garment {beged iddim: cloth soiled by impurity} of filth; and we all faded like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have carried us away.
7 And there is no one who calls on Your {YHWH, Sovereign Judge} name {shem: authority}, who awakens himself to take hold of You, for You have hidden Your face from us and You have melted us in the hand of our iniquities.
8 And now, LORD {YHWH, Life-Shaper}, You are our Father; we are the clay {chomer: moldable substance}, and You are our Potter, and we all are the work of Your hand.
9 Do not be exceedingly angry, O LORD {YHWH, Covenant Judge}, nor remember iniquity forever; behold, please look—Your people {ammekha: covenant community} are all of us.
10 Your holy cities have become a wilderness; Zion {tsiyon: sacred center} has become a wilderness, and Jerusalem has become a desolation {shmamah: utter ruin}.
11 Our holy and beautiful house {bayit: sacred dwelling}, where our fathers praised You {YHWH, Divine Refuge}, has been burned down and all our precious things lie in ruins.
12 Will You restrain Yourself over these things, LORD {YHWH, Patient Sovereign}? Will You remain silent and afflict us exceedingly {meʼôd: in excess}?