1Who is this man coming from the city of Bozrah in Edom? His clothes are stained bright red. Who is he? He is dressed up in all his glory. He is marching towards us with great strength. The LORD answers, ‘It is I. I have won the battle. I am mighty. I have saved my people.’2Why are your clothes red? They look as if you have been treading grapes in a winepress.3The LORD answers, ‘I have been trampling on the nations as if they were grapes. No one was there to help me. I walked all over the nations because I was angry. That is why I trampled on them. Their blood splashed all over my clothes. So my clothes were stained bright red.4I decided it was time to pay back Israel’s enemies. The year for me to set my people free had come.5I looked around, but no one was there to help me. I was shocked that no one gave me any help. So I used my own power to save my people. I had the strength to do it because I was angry.6I walked all over the nations because I was angry with them. I made them drink from the cup of my great anger. I poured out their blood on the ground.’
Isaiah praises the Lord and prays to him
7I will talk about the kind things the LORD has done. I’ll praise him for everything he’s done for us. He has done many good things for the nation of Israel. That’s because he loves us and is very kind to us.8In the past he said, ‘They are my people. They are children who will be faithful to me.’ So he saved them.9When they suffered, he suffered with them. He sent his angel to save them. He set them free because he is loving and kind. He lifted them up and carried them. He did it again and again in days long ago.10But they refused to obey him. They made his Holy Spirit sad. So he turned against them and became their enemy. He himself fought against them.11Then his people remembered what he did long ago. They recalled the days of Moses and his people. They asked, ‘Where is the God who brought Israel through the Red Sea? Moses led them as the shepherd of his flock. Where is the God who put his Holy Spirit among them?12He used his glorious and powerful arm to help Moses. He parted the waters of the sea in front of them. That mighty act made him famous for ever.13He led them through that deep sea. Like a horse in open country, they didn’t trip and fall.14They were like cattle that are taken down to the plains. They were given rest by the Spirit of the LORD.’ That’s how he guided his people. So he made a glorious name for himself.15LORD, look down from heaven. Look down from your holy and glorious throne. Where is your great love for us? Where is your power? Why don’t you show us your tender love and concern?16You are our Father. Abraham might not accept us as his children. Jacob might not recognise us as his family. But you are our Father, LORD. Your name is One Who Always Sets Us Free.17LORD, why do you let us wander away from you? Why do you let us become so stubborn that we don’t respect you? Come back and help us. We are the tribes that belong to you.18For a little while your holy people possessed the land. But now our enemies have torn your temple down.19We are like people you never ruled over. We are like those who don’t belong to you.
Isaiah 63
English Standard Version
The Lord’s Day of Vengeance
1Who is this who comes from Edom, in crimsoned garments from Bozrah, he who is splendid in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength? “It is I, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save.” (Ps 68:7; Isa 34:6)2Why is your apparel red, and your garments like his who treads in the winepress? (La 1:15; Re 14:20; Re 19:13; Re 19:15)3“I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples no one was with me; I trod them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath; their lifeblood[1] spattered on my garments, and stained all my apparel. (Isa 59:16; Joe 3:13)4For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and my year of redemption[2] had come. (Isa 34:8)5I looked, but there was no one to help; I was appalled, but there was no one to uphold; so my own arm brought me salvation, and my wrath upheld me. (Isa 59:16)6I trampled down the peoples in my anger; I made them drunk in my wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.” (Isa 49:26)
The Lord’s Mercy Remembered
7I will recount the steadfast love of the Lord, the praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord has granted us, and the great goodness to the house of Israel that he has granted them according to his compassion, according to the abundance of his steadfast love. (Ps 145:7)8For he said, “Surely they are my people, children who will not deal falsely.” And he became their Savior.9In all their affliction he was afflicted,[3] and the angel of his presence saved them; in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. (De 7:7; De 32:10; Jud 10:16; Eze 16:5)10But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit; therefore he turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against them. (Ex 15:24; Nu 14:11; Ps 78:17; Ps 78:40; Ps 78:56; Ps 95:9; Eze 20:8; Ac 7:51; Eph 4:30)11Then he remembered the days of old, of Moses and his people.[4] Where is he who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is he who put in the midst of them his Holy Spirit, (Ex 14:19; Ps 77:11)12who caused his glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses, who divided the waters before them to make for himself an everlasting name, (Ex 14:21; Jos 3:16; 2Sa 7:23; Ne 9:10)13who led them through the depths? Like a horse in the desert, they did not stumble.14Like livestock that go down into the valley, the Spirit of the Lord gave them rest. So you led your people, to make for yourself a glorious name. (Nu 10:33; Isa 63:12)
Prayer for Mercy
15Look down from heaven and see, from your holy and beautiful[5] habitation. Where are your zeal and your might? The stirring of your inner parts and your compassion are held back from me. (De 26:15; Ps 33:14; Isa 59:17; Zec 1:14)16For you are our Father, though Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us; you, O Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name. (De 32:6; Isa 43:14; Isa 64:8)17O Lord, why do you make us wander from your ways and harden our heart, so that we fear you not? Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your heritage. (Ps 90:13; Isa 6:10; Joh 12:40)18Your holy people held possession for a little while;[6] our adversaries have trampled down your sanctuary. (De 4:25; Isa 64:11)19We have become like those over whom you have never ruled, like those who are not called by your name. (Jer 14:8)