Isaiah 63
Living Bible
63 Who is this who comes from Edom, from the city of Bozrah, with his magnificent garments of crimson? Who is this in royal robes, marching in the greatness of his strength?
“It is I, the Lord, announcing your salvation; I, the Lord, the one who is mighty to save!”
2 “Why are your clothes so red, as from treading out the grapes?”
3 “I have trodden the winepress alone. No one was there to help me. In my wrath I have trodden my enemies like grapes. In my fury I trampled my foes. It is their blood you see upon my clothes. 4 For the time has come for me to avenge my people, to redeem them from the hands of their oppressors. 5 I looked but no one came to help them; I was amazed and appalled. So I executed vengeance alone; unaided, I meted out judgment. 6 I crushed the heathen nations in my anger and made them stagger and fall to the ground.”
7 I will tell of the loving-kindnesses of God. I will praise him for all he has done; I will rejoice in his great goodness to Israel, which he has granted in accordance with his mercy and love. 8 He said, “They are my very own; surely they will not be false again.” And he became their Savior. 9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and he personally saved them.[a] In his love and pity he redeemed them and lifted them up and carried them through all the years.
10 But they rebelled against him and grieved his Holy Spirit. That is why he became their enemy and personally fought against them. 11 Then they remembered those days of old when Moses, God’s servant, led his people out of Egypt, and they cried out, “Where is the One who brought Israel through the sea, with Moses as their shepherd? Where is the God who sent his Holy Spirit to be among his people? 12 Where is he whose mighty power divided the sea before them when Moses lifted up his hand, and established his reputation forever? 13 Who led them through the bottom of the sea? Like fine stallions racing through the desert, they never stumbled. 14 Like cattle grazing in the valleys, so the Spirit of the Lord gave them rest. Thus he gave himself a magnificent reputation.”
15 O Lord, look down from heaven and see us from your holy, glorious home; where is the love for us you used to show—your power, your mercy, and your compassion? Where are they now? 16 Surely you are still our Father! Even if Abraham and Jacob would disown us, still you would be our Father, our Redeemer from ages past. 17 O Lord, why have you hardened our hearts and made us sin and turn against you? Return and help us, for we who belong to you need you so.[b] 18 How briefly we possessed Jerusalem! And now our enemies have destroyed her. 19 O God, why do you treat us as though we weren’t your people, as though we were a heathen nation that never called you “Lord”?
Footnotes
- Isaiah 63:9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and he personally saved them, or “The Angel of his Presence saved them out of their affliction.”
- Isaiah 63:17 for we who belong to you need you so, literally, “for your servants’ sake.”
Isaiah 63
King James Version
63 Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.
2 Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat?
3 I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment.
4 For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.
5 And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my fury, it upheld me.
6 And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth.
7 I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the Lord, and the praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord hath bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he hath bestowed on them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses.
8 For he said, Surely they are my people, children that will not lie: so he was their Saviour.
9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.
10 But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them.
11 Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? where is he that put his holy Spirit within him?
12 That led them by the right hand of Moses with his glorious arm, dividing the water before them, to make himself an everlasting name?
13 That led them through the deep, as an horse in the wilderness, that they should not stumble?
14 As a beast goeth down into the valley, the Spirit of the Lord caused him to rest: so didst thou lead thy people, to make thyself a glorious name.
15 Look 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?
16 Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: thou, O Lord, art our father, our redeemer; thy name is from everlasting.
17 O Lord, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants' sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.
18 The people of thy holiness have possessed it but a little while: our adversaries have trodden down thy sanctuary.
19 We are thine: thou never barest rule over them; they were not called by thy name.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.