Isaiah 63–64

THE LORD’S DAY OF VENGEANCE

63Who is this coming from Edomⁱ

in crimson-stained garments from Bozrah—

this one who is splendid in his apparel,

striding in his formidable^D might?

It is I, proclaiming vindication,^E

powerful to save.

²Why are your clothes red,

and your garments like one who treads a winepress?^j

³I trampled the winepress alone,

and no one from the nations was with me.

I trampled them in my anger

and ground them underfoot in my fury;

their blood spattered my garments,

and all my clothes were stained.

⁴For I planned the day of vengeance,^k

and the year of my redemption^A came.

⁵I looked, but there was no one to help,^l

and I was amazed that no one assisted;

so my arm accomplished victory for me,

and my wrath assisted me.

⁶I crushed nations in my anger;

I made them drunk with my wrath^m

and poured out their blood on the ground.ⁿ

REMEMBRANCE OF GRACE

⁷I will make known the Lord’s faithful love

and the Lord’s praiseworthy acts,

because of all the Lord has done for us—

even the many good things

he has done for the house of Israel,

which he did for them based on his compassion

and the abundance of his faithful love.

⁸He said, “They are indeed my people,

children who will not be disloyal,”

and he became their Savior.

⁹In all their suffering, he suffered,^Bo

and the angel of his presence saved them.

He redeemed them

because of his love and compassion;^p

he lifted them up and carried them

all the days of the past.^q

¹⁰But they rebelled

and grieved his Holy Spirit.^r

So he became their enemy

and fought against them.

¹¹Then he^C remembered the days of the past,

the days of Moses and his people.

Where is he who brought them out of the sea

with the shepherds^D of his flock?

Where is he who put his Holy Spirit among the flock?

¹²He made his glorious strength

available at the right hand of Moses,

divided the water before them^a

to make an eternal name for himself,

¹³and led them through the depths

like a horse in the wilderness,

so that they did not stumble.

¹⁴Like cattle that go down into the valley,

the Spirit of the Lord gave them^E rest.

You led your people this way

to make a glorious name for yourself.

ISRAEL’S PRAYER

¹⁵Look down from heaven and see^b

from your lofty home—holy and beautiful.

Where is your zeal and your might?

Your yearning^A and your compassion

are withheld from me.

¹⁶Yet you are our Father,

even though Abraham does not know us

and Israel doesn’t recognize us.

You, Lord, are our Father;

your name is Our Redeemer^c

from Ancient Times.

¹⁷Why, Lord, do you make us stray from your ways?

You harden our hearts so we do not fear^B you.^d

Return, because of your servants,

the tribes of your heritage.

¹⁸Your holy people had a possession^C

for a little while,

but our enemies have trampled down

your sanctuary.^e

¹⁹We have become like those you never ruled,

like those who did not bear your name.^f

64If only you would tear the heavens open

and come down,^g

so that mountains would quake at your presence^h—

²just as fire kindles brushwood,

and fire boils water—

to make your name known to your enemies,

so that nations would tremble at your presence!

³When you did awesome worksⁱ

that we did not expect,

you came down,^j

and the mountains quaked at your presence.

⁴From ancient times no one has heard,

no one has listened to,

no eye has seen any God except you

who acts on behalf of the one who waits for him.^k

⁵You welcome the one who joyfully does what is right;

they remember you in your ways.

But we have sinned, and you were angry.

How can we be saved if we remain in our sins?^D

⁶All of us have become like something unclean,

and all our righteous acts are like a polluted^E garment;^l

all of us wither like a leaf,^m

and our iniquitiesⁿ carry us away like the wind.

⁷No one calls on your name,

striving to take hold of you.

For you have hidden your face from us^o

and made us melt because of^FG our iniquity.

⁸Yet Lord, you are our Father;^p

we are the clay, and you are our potter;

we all are the work of your hands.^q

⁹Lord, do not be terribly angry

or remember our iniquity forever.^r

Please look—all of us are your people!

¹⁰Your holy cities have become a wilderness;

Zion has become a wilderness,

Jerusalem a desolation.^s

¹¹Our holy and beautiful temple,

where our ancestors praised you,

has been burned down,

and all that was dear to us lies in ruins.^t

¹²Lord, after all this, will you restrain yourself?

Will you keep silent and afflict us severely?^a