כִּקְדֹחַ אֵשׁ הֲמָסִים מַיִם תִּבְעֶה אֵשׁ לְהוֹדִיעַ שִׁמְךָ לְצָרֶיךָ מִפָּנֶיךָ גּוֹיִם יִרְגָּזוּ

Like fire heats what melts and water is boiled by fire, so too it, Your conduct, would be acknowledged as affecting the world, had you descended to make Your name known to Your foes. Nations would have trembled before You

בַּעֲשׂוֹתְךָ נוֹרָאוֹת-לֹא-נְקַוֶּה יָרַדְתָּ מִפָּנֶיךָ הָרִים נָזֹלּוּ

in Your performing awesome deeds for which we could not hope, beyond what we could have anticipated, just as when You descended in the past and mountains melted before You. The melting and dissolving of mountains is a common theme in the Bible in descriptions of redemption, as well as in descriptions of God’s revelation at Mount Sinai.

וּמֵעוֹלָם לֹא שָׁמְעוּ לֹא הֶאֱזִינוּ עַיִן לֹא רָאָתָה אֱלֹהִים זוּלָתְךָ יַעֲשֶׂה למְחַכֵּה לוֹ

They, the other nations, never take heed; they did not listen. No eye has seen, besides You, God, such great actions, that which He will do for one who awaits Him. The manifestation of God’s power will cause radical changes, but the nature of those transformations is currently unfathomable.

פָּגַעְתָּ אֶת שָׂשׂ וְעֹשֵׂה צֶדֶק בִדְרָכֶיךָ יִזְכְּרוּךָ הֵן אַתָּה קָצַפְתָּ – וַנֶּחֱטָא בָּהֶם עוֹלָם וְנִוָּשֵׁעַ

You encountered one who gladly performs righteousness; through Your ways they, the righteous, remember You and that You desire righteousness. Conversely, behold the result when You were angry and hid Your face: And we sinned, we became blemished. Nevertheless, even with them, those blemishes, we will always be saved, as it is always in Your power to transform those blemishes into merits, leading to an everlasting salvation. Alternatively, we are entirely dependent upon You, since You come close to us or distance Yourself as You wish. Many commentaries understand this verse to refer to the phenomenon of the righteous being punished for the iniquities of their generations and nevertheless praising God for all that befalls them. The ultimate redemption is by their merit.

וַנְּהִי כַטָּמֵא כֻּלָּנוּ וּכְבֶגֶד עִדִּים כָּל צִדְקֹתֵינוּ וַנָּבֶל כֶּעָלֶה כֻּלָּנוּ ועֲוֹנֵנוּ כָּרוּחַ יִשָּׂאֻנוּ

The prophet presents statements of confession and repentance on behalf of Israel: We have all become like one who is impure, and all our righteous deeds are like a tattered, old, stained garment. As a result, we all wither like a leaf, and therefore our iniquities will bear us away from place to place, like the wind blowing away old leaves.

וְאֵין קוֹרֵא בְשִׁמְךָ מִתְעוֹרֵר לְהַחֲזִיק בָּךְ כִּי הִסְתַּרְתָּ פָנֶיךָ מִמֶּנּוּ וַתְּמוּגֵנוּ בְּיַד עֲוֹנֵנוּ

And there is no one calling Your name, none rousing himself to hold on to You, for You concealed Your face from us due to our sins. If You do not reveal Yourself, it is difficult for us to draw close to You. And You melted and subdued us because of our iniquities.

וְעַתָּה ה' אָבִינוּ אָתָּה אֲנַחְנוּ הַחֹמֶר וְאַתָּה יֹצְרֵנוּ ומַעֲשֵׂה יָדְךָ כֻּלָּנוּ

The prophet entreats God in the name of Israel: But now, Lord, You are our Father, in the sense of a source or root rather than a biological parent. We are the clay, and You are our potter, who shapes the material as he wishes, and we are all Your handiwork, which is why we plead with You.

אַל תִּקְצֹף ה' עַד מְאֹד וְאַל לָעַד תִּזְכֹּר עָוֹן הֵן הַבֶּט נָא עַמְּךָ כֻלָּנוּ

Do not be angry to the extreme, Lord, and do not forever remember iniquity; behold, please look, and remember that although we have sinned and are severely flawed, ultimately all of us are Your people.

עָרֵי קָדְשְׁךָ הָיוּ מִדְבָּר צִיּוֹן מִדְבָּר הָיָתָה יְרוּשָׁלִַם שְׁמָמָה

At the time of the destruction of the Temple, the cities of Your holiness have become a wilderness. Moreover, Zion has become a wilderness and Jerusalem a desolation.

בֵּית קָדְשֵׁנוּ וְתִפְאַרְתֵּנוּ אֲשֶׁר הִלְלוּךָ אֲבֹתֵינוּ הָיָה לִשְׂרֵפַת אֵשׁ וְכָל מַחֲמַדֵּינוּ הָיָה לְחָרְבָּה

The House of our holiness and our splendor, where our fathers praised You, has become a fiery conflagration, and all that we cherished has become a ruin. Alternatively, our fathers praised You by relating to us about the splendor of the Temple.

הַעַל אֵלֶּה תִתְאַפַּק ה' תֶּחֱשֶׁה וּתְעַנֵּנוּ עַד מְאֹד!

Will You restrain Yourself for these, O Lord? Will You be silent and afflict us to the extreme? How can You watch the destruction of the holy city and the Temple and refrain from responding to our pleas and prayers?