| King James Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence, | 1 Oh, that you would burst from the heavens and come down! How the mountains would quake in your presence! |
| 2As when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence! | 2 As fire causes wood to burn and water to boil, your coming would make the nations tremble. Then your enemies would learn the reason for your fame! |
| 3When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou camest down, the mountains flowed down at thy presence. | 3When you came down long ago, you did awesome deeds beyond our highest expectations. And oh, how the mountains quaked! |
| 4For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him. | 4For since the world began, no ear has heard and no eye has seen a God like you, who works for those who wait for him! |
| 5Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved. | 5You welcome those who gladly do good, who follow godly ways. But you have been very angry with us, for we are not godly. We are constant sinners; how can people like us be saved? |
| 6But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. | 6We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind. |
| 7And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities. | 7Yet no one calls on your name or pleads with you for mercy. Therefore, you have turned away from us and turned us over to our sins. |
| 8But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand. | 8And yet, O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We all are formed by your hand. |
| 9Be not wroth very sore, O LORD, neither remember iniquity for ever: behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people. | 9Don’t be so angry with us, LORD. Please don’t remember our sins forever. Look at us, we pray, and see that we are all your people. |
| 10Thy holy cities are a wilderness, Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. | 10Your holy cities are destroyed. Zion is a wilderness; yes, Jerusalem is a desolate ruin. |
| 11Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned up with fire: and all our pleasant things are laid waste. | 11The holy and beautiful Temple where our ancestors praised you has been burned down, and all the things of beauty are destroyed. |
| 12Wilt thou refrain thyself for these things, O LORD? wilt thou hold thy peace, and afflict us very sore? | 12After all this, LORD, must you still refuse to help us? Will you continue to be silent and punish us? |
| King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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