Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence,
Parallel translations
- WEB Oh that you would tear the heavens, that you would come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence.
- BSB If only You would rend the heavens and come down, so that mountains would quake at Your presence,
- NKJV Oh, that You would rend the heavens! That You would come down! That the mountains might shake at Your presence—
- NASB Oh, that You would tear open the heavens and come down, That the mountains would quake at Your presence—
- NLT Oh, that you would burst from the heavens and come down! How the mountains would quake in your presence!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The people cry out for God to tear open the heavens and come down so the mountains quake at His presence. It matters because it voices the longing for God to act decisively.
Overview
This passionate plea asks God to make a dramatic theophany, descending in power as at Sinai. It expresses the deep human yearning for God to break in and set things right. In a profound sense this prayer is answered at the incarnation, when God came down in Christ, and it anticipates His glorious return (Mark 1:10 notably uses 'tearing' imagery at Jesus' baptism).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- Mic 1:3–4For, behold, the LORD cometh forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth.
- Mark 1:10And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him:
- Exod 19:18–19And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.
- Rev 20:11And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
- Ps 68:8The earth shook, the heavens also dropped at the presence of God: even Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel.
- Nah 1:5–6The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein.
- Ps 144:5–6Bow thy heavens, O LORD, and come down: touch the mountains, and they shall smoke.
- Hab 3:1–13A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth.
- Isa 63:15Look down from heaven, and behold from the habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory: where is thy zeal and thy strength, the sounding of thy bowels and of thy mercies toward me? are they restrained?
- Exod 3:8And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
- Amos 9:13Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt.
- Judg 5:4–5LORD, when thou wentest out of Seir, when thou marchedst out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, and the heavens dropped, the clouds also dropped water.
- Ps 46:6The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted.
- Ps 18:7–15Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth.
- Ps 114:4–7The mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills like lambs.
- 2 Pet 3:10–12But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
- Exod 19:11And be ready against the third day: for the third day the LORD will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai.
- Amos 9:5And the Lord GOD of hosts is he that toucheth the land, and it shall melt, and all that dwell therein shall mourn: and it shall rise up wholly like a flood; and shall be drowned, as by the flood of Egypt.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 64:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.