O LORD repeats the vocative from the previous verse. Good News Translation and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch omit it, presumably because the context makes it clear enough who is being addressed.
Why dost thou make us err from thy ways and harden our heart, so that we fear thee not?: By asking this rhetorical question, the people appear to blame God for causing them to abandon his laws. Such thoughts are not unusual in the Old Testament. God was considered to be the source of all things, even of evil or disastrous events (see, for example, Amos 3.6), but at the same time it did not mean that humans were any less responsible for their actions. The people’s admission of their own failure is obvious in 64.6-7. This apparent inconsistency is not easily resolved. However, we recall the contest between God and Pharaoh in Exo 10–11 in which there are statements that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, as well as Pharaoh hardening his own heart. Both expressions attempt to describe what happened. It is also true that in the Lament Psalms and in the book of Job there is no hesitation in charging God with a lack of concern for people and even of causing the very troubles that people experience. So translators should render what this question says, even though Good News Translation, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, Bible en français courant, and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch use “let” or “allow” to soften it to some extent.
Make us err is literally “cause us to wander.” For the Hebrew verb here see the comments on 3.12, where it is rendered “mislead.” For thy ways, see 2.3. Harden our heart recalls the verb phrase used in Exodus to describe Pharaoh’s rejection of God’s mysterious actions (see, for example, Exo 10.27). Good News Translation renders it nonfiguratively, saying “make us so stubborn,” and so does Bible en français courant with “let us … be obstinate.” So that we fear thee not expresses the result of straying from God’s ways and rejecting his demands. The people no longer honor him. The Hebrew word for fear refers to both awe and worship (see the comments on 11.2-3). Good News Translation renders this clause as “that we turn away from you,” and Bible en français courant has “in rejecting your authority.”
Return for the sake of thy servants, the tribes of thy heritage: The people ask Yahweh to Return. Although the Hebrew verb for Return can be used for turning around and going back in a physical sense, here it is used figuratively asking God to restore his relationship with them. Contemporary English Version says “Please change your mind!” The basis for this request is the sake of thy servants, the tribes of thy heritage, that is, the well-being of the God’s people who serve him and are his possession. This is a communal lament and the people base their plea for help on the history of God’s long relationship with the community. For the sake of may be rendered “for the benefit/love of.” For servants see the comments on 20.3 and 41.8. The tribes of thy heritage means the Israelites are God’s possession (see the comments on 19.25). Several versions have a simpler expression for this phrase; for example, Good News Translation says “the people who have always been yours,” and Bible en français courant (1997) uses “the people who are your property/possession.”
Translation examples for this verse are:
• LORD, why do you cause us [or, allow us] to stray from your ways?
Why do you harden our hearts, so that we fail to be in awe of you?
Come back for the sake of those who serve you,
for the sake of the people who belong to you.
• LORD, you have misled us from following your ways!
You have made us so stubborn that we fail to honor you!
Please return to us for the love of your servants,
the people who belong to you.
Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .