The Lord’s Day of Vengeance

63 Who is this who comes from lEdom,

in crimsoned garments from lBozrah,

he who is splendid in his apparel,

mmarching in the greatness of his strength?

“It is I, speaking in righteousness,

mighty to save.”

2  Why is your napparel red,

and your garments like his owho treads in the winepress?

3  p“I have trodden the winepress alone,

qand from the peoples no one was with me;

I trod them in my anger

and trampled them in my wrath;

their lifeblood1 spattered on my garments,

and stained all my apparel.

4  rFor the day of vengeance was in my heart,

and my year of redemption2 had come.

5  I looked, but sthere 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.

6  I trampled down the peoples in my anger;

tI made them drunk in my wrath,

and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.”

The Lord’s Mercy Remembered

7  I will recount the steadfast love of the Lord,

the praises of the Lord,

according to all that the Lord has granted us,

uand 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.

8  For he said, “Surely they are my people,

children who will not deal falsely.”

And he became their Savior.

9  vIn all their affliction he was afflicted,3

and the angel of his presence saved them;

win his love and in his pity he redeemed them;

xhe lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.

10  yBut they rebelled

zand grieved his Holy Spirit;

therefore he turned to be their enemy,

and himself fought against them.

11  Then he remembered athe days of old,

of Moses and his people.4

bWhere 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,

12  who caused his glorious arm

to go at the right hand of Moses,

cwho divided the waters before them

dto make for himself an everlasting name,

13  who led them through the depths?

Like a horse in the desert,

they did not stumble.

14  Like livestock that go down into the valley,

ethe Spirit of the Lord gave them rest.

So you led your people,

dto make for yourself a glorious name.

Prayer for Mercy

15  fLook down from heaven and see,

gfrom your holy and beautiful5 habitation.

Where are hyour zeal and your might?

The stirring of your inner parts and your compassion

are held back from me.

16  For iyou are our Father,

though Abraham does not know us,

and Israel does not acknowledge us;

you, O Lord, are our Father,

jour Redeemer from of old is your name.

17  O Lord, why do you make us wander from your ways

and kharden our heart, so that we fear you not?

lReturn for the sake of your servants,

the tribes of your heritage.

18  mYour holy people held possession for a little while;6

nour adversaries have trampled down your sanctuary.

19  oWe have become like those over whom you have never ruled,

like those who are not called by your name.

64 pOh that you would rend the heavens and come down,

qthat the mountains might quake at your presence—

2  1 as when fire kindles brushwood

and the fire causes water to boil—

rto make your name known to your adversaries,

and that the nations might tremble at your presence!

3  sWhen you did awesome things that we did not look for,

you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.

4  tFrom of old no one has heard

or perceived by the ear,

uno eye has seen a God besides you,

who acts for those who wait for him.

5  You meet him who joyfully works righteousness,

those who remember you in your ways.

Behold, you were angry, and we sinned;

in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved?2

6  vWe have all become like one who is unclean,

and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.

wWe all fade like a leaf,

and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

7  xThere is no one who calls upon your name,

who rouses himself to take hold of you;

for you have hidden your face from us,

and have made us melt in3 the hand of our iniquities.

8  yBut now, O Lord, you are our Father;

zwe are the clay, and you are our potter;

awe are all the work of your hand.

9  bBe not so terribly angry, O Lord,

cand remember not iniquity forever.

Behold, please look, we are all your people.

10  dYour holy cities have become a wilderness;

Zion has become a wilderness,

Jerusalem a desolation.

11  eOur holy and beautiful4 house,

where our fathers praised you,

has been burned by fire,

and all our pleasant places have become ruins.

12  fWill you restrain yourself at these things, O Lord?

Will you keep silent, and afflict us so terribly?