Isaiah 63–64

63RD CHAPTER

The Lord Alone Wins His Victory

¹Who is this coming from Bozrah in Edom 

with his clothes stained bright red? 

Who is this dressed in splendor, 

going forward with great strength? 

“It is I, the Lord. I am coming to announce my victory. 

I am powerful enough to save ⸤you⸥.” 

²Why are your clothes red 

and your garments like those who trample grapes in a winepress? 

³“I have trampled alone in the winepress. 

No one was with me. 

In my anger I trampled on people. 

In my wrath I stomped on them. 

Their blood splattered my clothes 

so all my clothing has been stained. 

⁴I planned the day of vengeance. 

The year for my reclaiming ⸤you⸥ has come. 

⁵I looked, but there was no help. 

I was astounded that there was no ⸤outside⸥ support. 

So with my own power I won a victory. 

My anger supported me. 

⁶In my anger I trampled on people. 

In my wrath I made them drunk 

and poured their blood on the ground.” 

The Lord’s People Pray for His Help

⁷I will acknowledge the Lord’s acts of mercy, 

and ⸤sing⸥ the praises of the Lord, 

because of everything that the Lord has done for us. 

He has done many good things for the nation of Israel 

because of his compassion and his unlimited mercy. 

⁸He said, “They are my people, 

children who will not lie to me.” 

So he became their Savior. 

⁹In all their troubles he was troubled, 

and he was the Messenger who saved them. 

In his love and compassion he reclaimed them. 

He always held them and carried them in the past. 

¹⁰But they rebelled and offended his Holy Spirit. 

So he turned against them as their enemy; he fought against them. 

¹¹Then his people remembered Moses and the distant past. 

Where is the one who brought them out of the sea 

with the shepherds of his flock? 

Where is the one who put his Holy Spirit in them? 

¹²Where is the one who sent his powerful arm 

to support the right hand of Moses? 

Where is the one who divided the water in front of them 

to make an everlasting name for himself? 

¹³Where is the one who led them through the deep water? 

Like horses in the wilderness, 

they didn’t stumble. 

¹⁴Like animals going down into a valley, 

they were given rest by the Lord’s Spirit. 

In this way you guided your people 

to make an honored name for yourself. 

¹⁵Look down and see from heaven, from your holy and beautiful dwelling. 

Where is your determination and might? 

Where is the longing of your heart and your compassion? 

Don’t hold back. 

¹⁶You are our Father. 

Even though Abraham doesn’t know us 

and Israel doesn’t pay attention to us, 

O Lord, you are our Father. 

Your name is our Defender From Everlasting. 

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

and become so stubborn that we are unable to fear you? 

Return for the sake of your servants. 

They are the tribes that belong to you. 

¹⁸Your holy people possessed the land for a little while. 

Our enemies have trampled on your holy place. 

¹⁹We have become like those whom you never ruled, 

like those who are not called by your name. 

64TH CHAPTER^a

¹If only you would split open the heavens and come down! 

The mountains would quake at your presence. 

²Be like the fire that kindles brushwood and makes water boil. 

Come down to make your name known to your enemies. 

The nations will tremble in your presence. 

³When you did awe-inspiring things that we didn’t expect, 

you came down and the mountains quaked in your presence. 

⁴No one has ever heard, 

no one has paid attention, 

and no one has seen any god except you. 

You help those who wait for you. 

⁵You greeted the one who gladly does right and remembers your ways. 

You showed your anger, because we’ve sinned. 

We’ve continued to sin for a long time. 

Can we still be saved? 

⁶We’ve all become unclean,^b

and all our righteous acts are like permanently stained rags. 

All of us shrivel like leaves, 

and our sins carry us away like the wind. 

⁷No one calls on your name 

or tries to hold on to you. 

You have hidden your face from us. 

You have let us be ruined by our sins. 

⁸But now, Lord, you are our Father. 

We are the clay, and you are our potter. 

We are the work of your hands. 

⁹Don’t be too angry, Lord. 

Don’t remember our sin forever. 

Now look, we are all your people. 

¹⁰Your holy cities have become a desert. 

Zion has become a desert. 

Jerusalem is a wasteland. 

¹¹Our holy and beautiful temple, where our ancestors praised you, 

has been burned to the ground. 

All that we valued has been ruined. 

¹²Despite these things, Lord, will you hold back? 

Will you be silent and make us suffer more than we can bear?