The first two lines in this verse describe two kinds of devout individuals who cannot be found in the community. The last two lines give the reason for this sad state of affairs.

There is no one that calls upon thy name means there is no one who comes to God in prayer or worship (see the comments on 12.4). This is hyperbole, exaggerating the community’s failure, the poverty of their relationship with God. They stress that both formal and informal worship have not been part of their regular life. No one that calls upon thy name links back to the clause in 63.19 in which the people admit that they have become like those “who are not called by thy name.” Bible en français courant renders this line as “There is no one left to address you,” and Good News Translation has “No one turns to you in prayer.”

That bestirs himself to take hold of thee is an idiomatic expression that refers to someone who is completely dedicated to the LORD. The phrase There is no one is implied here, so translators may repeat it. The community also lacks anyone who is faithful to the LORD. The reflexive Hebrew verb rendered bestirs himself refers to a stirring oneself into action, determining to do something (see the comments on 51.17, where it is translated “rouse yourself”). The action in view here is to take hold of thee, which means literally “to grab hold of you,” but this is clearly a figurative expression for being fully devoted to the LORD.

For thou hast hid thy face from us: Like Revised Standard Version, most versions treat the Hebrew particle rendered for as a logical connector. It introduces the reason why the people no longer feel any sense of attachment to Yahweh. It is almost as though they are blaming God for their failure. Alternatively, this particle can be viewed as an emphatic marker, which may be rendered “truly” or “indeed.” If it has this sense, then the people are emphasizing that the LORD has turned away from them just as they have done to him. Good News Translation understands the particle in this way, but leaves it implied. Translators may choose either sense here.

Thou hast hid thy face from us is an idiomatic expression that means God abandoned his people (see the comments on 8.17 and 54.8). It occurs in many of the Lament Psalms (see, for example, Psa 30.7; 69.17; 88.14). The Hebrew expression for thy face refers to God himself, as in verses 2 and 3, where it is rendered “thy presence.” Bible en français courant translates this whole clause as “you refuse to see us.”

And hast delivered us into the hand of our iniquities: The subject of this clause is still the pronoun thou (that is, the LORD) of the previous line. Instead of the verb delivered, the Hebrew text has a verb that can mean “tremble,” “waste away” (New International Version), or “melt” (Contemporary English Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). The noun hand is a metaphor for power or control. For this line de~Waard suggests following Revised English Bible, which reads “and left us in the grip of our iniquities.” This rendering is not very different in meaning from that in Revised Standard Version. Another possible model is “and [you] left us in the power of our sins.”

Translation examples for this verse are:

• Nobody prays to you,
not one of our people expresses devotion to you.
Truly you have turned away from us,
and left us in the grip of our sinfulness.

• There is no one who prays to you,
nor anyone who worships you.
Truly you have hidden your face from us,
and left us in the grip of [our] sins.

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 .