Isaiah 63

Wycliffe Bible

63 Who is this that cometh from Edom, in dyed clothes from Bozrah? this fair man in his stole, either long cloak, going in the multitude of his strength? I that speak rightfulness, and am a for-fighter for to save (It is I who speak righteously/It is I who speak of right over wrong, and am a fighter for you, and will save you).

²Why therefore is thy clothing red? and thy clothes as of men stamping in a presser? (And so why is thy clothing red? and thy clothes like those who stamp at a winepress?)

³I alone stamped the press, and of folks, either Gentiles, no man is, either was, with me (I stamped the winepress alone, and no one from the nations, or from the Gentiles, was with me); (and so) I stamped them in my strong vengeance, and I defouled them in my wrath; and their blood is sprinkled on my clothes, and I made foul all my clothes.

⁴For why a day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my yielding cometh.

⁵I looked about, and none helper was; I sought, and none was that helped; and mine arm saved to me, and mine indignation, that helped me. (I looked about, but no one would help me; I sought everywhere, but no one would help; so my own arm saved me, and my anger, that upheld me.)

⁶And I defouled peoples in my strong vengeance; and I made them drunken in mine indignation, and I drew down their strength into the earth. (And I defiled the nations in my strong vengeance; and I made them drunk in my indignation, and I poured out their blood onto the ground.)

⁷I shall have mind on the merciful doings of the Lord, I shall preach the praising of the Lord, on all things which the Lord [hath] yielded to us, and the multitude of [the] goods of the house of Israel, which he gave to them, by his forgiveness, and by the multitude of his mercies. (I shall remember the merciful doings of the Lord, I shall preach the praises of the Lord, for all the things which the Lord hath given to us, and for the multitude of his goodness to the house of Israel, which he gave to them, by his forgiveness, and by the multitude of his mercies.)

⁸And the Lord said, Nevertheless it is my people, sons not denying (me), and (so) he was made a saviour to them, (And the Lord said, Yea, they be my people, and my sons and daughters shall not deceive me, and so he was made their Saviour,)

⁹in all the tribulation of them. It was set in tribulation, and the angel of his face saved them. In his love and in his forgiveness he again-bought them, and he bare them, and raised them in all [the] days of the world. (in all their trials and tribulation. For he was set in tribulation with them, and it was not the angel sent from him, but he himself who saved them. In his love and in his forgiveness he redeemed, or he rescued, them, and he carried them, and he raised them up in all the days of the world.)

¹⁰Forsooth they excited him to wrathfulness, and tormented the spirit of his holy; and he was turned into an enemy of them, and he overcame them in battle. (But they rebelled against him, and tormented his Holy Spirit; and he was turned into their enemy, and he defeated them in battle.)

¹¹And he had mind on the days of the world, of Moses, and of his people. Where is he, that led them out of the sea, with the shepherds of his flock? Where is he, that setted the spirit of his holy in the middle thereof; (And then they remembered the old days, the days of Moses, and his people, and they said, Where is he, who led them out of the Red Sea, or out of the Sea of Reeds/who led them up from the Nile River, with the shepherds of his flock? Where is he, who put his Holy Spirit within him?)

¹²which led out Moses to the right half in the arm of his majesty? which parted waters before them, that he should make to himself a name everlasting; (who led them out by the right hand of Moses with his majestic arm? who parted the waters before them, so that he would make an everlasting name for himself?)

¹³which led them out through depths of waters, as an horse not stumbling in desert, (who led them out through the depths of the waters, like a horse not stumbling in the wilderness,)

¹⁴as a beast going down in the field? The Spirit of the Lord was the leader thereof; so thou leddest thy people, that thou madest to thee a name of glory. (like a beast going down into the field? The Spirit of the Lord was their leader; so thou leddest thy people, and thou madest a glorious name for thyself.)

¹⁵Behold thou from heaven, and see from thine holy dwelling place, and from the seat of thy glory. Where is thy fervent love, and thy strength, the multitude of thine entrails, and of thy merciful doings? They withheld themselves on me (Why hast thou withheld thyself from us?).

¹⁶Forsooth thou art our father, and Abraham knew not us, and Israel knew not us. Thou, Lord, art our father, and our again-buyer; thy name is from the world. (For thou art our father, though Abraham knew us not, and Israel, or Jacob, knew us not. Thou, Lord, art our father, and our Redeemer; thy name is from forever.)

¹⁷Lord, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways? thou hast made hard our heart, that we dreaded not thee? be thou converted, for thy servants, the lineages of thine heritage. (Lord, why hast thou let us go astray from thy ways? hast thou hardened our hearts, so that we do not fear thee?/so that we do not have reverence for thee? return thou for the sake of thy servants, the tribes of thy inheritance.)

¹⁸They had as nought thine holy people in possession, and our enemies defouled thine hallowing. (For a little while they had thy holy people in possession, and our enemies defiled thy sanctuary.)

¹⁹We be made as in the beginning, when thou were not Lord of us, neither thy name was called to help on us. (And we were made like in the beginning, when thou were not Lord of us, and we did not call on thy name for help/and we were not called by thy name.)

Isaiah 63

New English Translation

The Victorious Divine Warrior

63 Who is this who comes from Edom,^[a]
dressed in bright red, coming from Bozrah?^[b]
Who^[c] is this one wearing royal attire,^[d]
who marches confidently^[e] because of his great strength?
“It is I, the one who announces vindication,
and who is able to deliver!”^[f]
²Why are your clothes red?
Why do you look like someone who has stomped on grapes in a vat?^[g]
³“I have stomped grapes in the winepress all by myself;
no one from the nations joined me.
I stomped on them^[h] in my anger;
I trampled them down in my rage.
Their juice splashed on my garments,
and stained^[i] all my clothes.
⁴For I looked forward to the day of vengeance,
and then payback time arrived.^[j]
⁵I looked, but there was no one to help;
I was shocked because there was no one offering support.^[k]
So my right arm accomplished deliverance;
my raging anger drove me on.^[l]
⁶I trampled nations in my anger;
I made them drunk^[m] in my rage;
I splashed their blood on the ground.”^[n]

A Prayer for Divine Intervention

⁷I will tell of the faithful acts of the Lord,
of the Lord’s praiseworthy deeds.
I will tell about all^[o] the Lord did for us,
the many good things he did for the family of Israel,^[p]
because of^[q] his compassion and great faithfulness.
⁸He said, “Certainly they will be my people,
children who are not disloyal.”^[r]
He became their deliverer.
⁹Through all that they suffered, he suffered too.^[s]
The messenger sent from his very presence^[t] delivered them.
In his love and mercy he protected^[u] them;
he lifted them up and carried them throughout ancient times.^[v]
¹⁰But they rebelled and offended^[w] his holy Spirit,^[x]
so he turned into an enemy
and fought against them.
¹¹His people remembered the ancient times.^[y]
Where is the one who brought them up out of the sea,
along with the shepherd of^[z] his flock?
Where is the one who placed his holy Spirit among them,^[aa]
¹²the one who made his majestic power available to Moses,^[ab]
who divided the water before them,
gaining for himself a lasting reputation,^[ac]
¹³who led them through the deep water?
Like a horse running through the wilderness^[ad] they did not stumble.
¹⁴As an animal that goes down into a valley to graze,^[ae]
so the Spirit of the Lord granted them rest.
In this way^[af] you guided your people,
gaining for yourself an honored reputation.^[ag]
¹⁵Look down from heaven and take notice,
from your holy, majestic palace!
Where are your zeal^[ah] and power?
Do not hold back your tender compassion!^[ai]
¹⁶For you are our father,
though Abraham does not know us
and Israel does not recognize us.
You, Lord, are our father;
you have been called our Protector from ancient times.^[aj]
¹⁷Why, Lord, do you make us stray^[ak] from your ways,^[al]
and make our minds stubborn so that we do not obey you?^[am]
Return for the sake of your servants,
the tribes of your inheritance!
¹⁸For a short time your special^[an] nation possessed a land,^[ao]
but then our adversaries knocked down^[ap] your holy sanctuary.
¹⁹We existed from ancient times,^[aq]
but you did not rule over them;
they were not your subjects.^[ar]

Footnotes

Isaiah 63:1 sn Edom is here an archetype for the Lord’s enemies. See 34:5.
Isaiah 63:1 tn Heb “[in] bright red garments, from Bozrah.”
Isaiah 63:1 tn The interrogative particle is understood by ellipsis; note the first line of the verse.
Isaiah 63:1 tn Heb “honored in his clothing”; KJV, ASV “glorious in his apparel.”
Isaiah 63:1 tc The Hebrew text has צָעָה (tsaʿah), which means “stoop, bend” (51:14). The translation assumes an emendation to צָעַד (tsaʿad, “march”; see BDB 858 s.v. צָעָה).
Isaiah 63:1 tn Heb “I, [the one] speaking in vindication [or “righteousness”], great to deliver.”
Isaiah 63:2 tn Heb “and your garments like one who treads in a vat?”
Isaiah 63:3 sn Nations, headed by Edom, are the object of the Lord’s anger (see v. 6). He compares military slaughter to stomping on grapes in a vat.
Isaiah 63:3 tn Heb “and I stained.” For discussion of the difficult verb form, see HALOT 170 s.v. II גאל. Perhaps the form is mixed, combining the first person forms of the imperfect (note the alef prefix) and perfect (note the תי- ending).
Isaiah 63:4 tn Heb “for the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my revenge came.” The term גְּאוּלַי (g^eʾulay) is sometimes translated here “my redemption,” for the verbal root גאל often means “deliver, buy back.” A גֹּאֵל (goʾel, “kinsman-redeemer”) was responsible for protecting the extended family’s interests, often by redeeming property that had been sold outside the family. However, the responsibilities of a גֹּאֵל extended beyond financial concerns. He was also responsible for avenging the shed blood of a family member (see Num 35:19-27; Deut 19:6-12). In Isa 63:4, where vengeance is a prominent theme (note the previous line), it is probably this function of the family protector that is in view. The Lord pictures himself as a blood avenger who waits for the day of vengeance to arrive and then springs into action.
Isaiah 63:5 sn See Isa 59:16 for similar language.
Isaiah 63:5 tn Heb “and my anger, it supported me”; NIV “my own wrath sustained me.”
Isaiah 63:6 sn See Isa 49:26 and 51:23 for similar imagery.
Isaiah 63:6 tn Heb “and I brought down to the ground their juice.” “Juice” refers to their blood (see v. 3).
Isaiah 63:7 tn Heb “according to all which.”
Isaiah 63:7 tn Heb “greatness of goodness to the house of Israel which he did for them.”
Isaiah 63:7 tn Heb “according to.”
Isaiah 63:8 tn Heb “children [who] do not act deceitfully.” Here the verb refers to covenantal loyalty.
Isaiah 63:9 tn Heb “in all their distress, there was distress to him” (reading לוֹ [lo] with the margin/Qere).
Isaiah 63:9 tn Heb “the messenger [or “angel”] of his face”; NIV “the angel of his presence.”sn This may refer to the “angel of God” mentioned in Exod 14:19, who in turn may be identical to the divine “presence” (literally, “face”) referred to in Exod 33:14-15 and Deut 4:37. Here in Isa 63 this messenger may be equated with God’s “holy Spirit” (see vv. 10-11) and “the Spirit of the Lord” (v. 14). See also Ps 139:7, where God’s “Spirit” seems to be equated with his “presence” (literally, “face”) in the synonymous parallelistic structure.
Isaiah 63:9 tn Or “redeemed” (KJV, NAB, NIV), or “delivered.”
Isaiah 63:9 tn Heb “all the days of antiquity”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “days of old.”
Isaiah 63:10 tn Or “grieved, hurt the feelings of.”
Isaiah 63:10 sn The phrase “holy Spirit” occurs in the OT only here (in v. 11 as well) and in Ps 51:11 (51:13 HT), where it is associated with the divine presence.
Isaiah 63:11 tn Heb “and he remembered the days of antiquity, Moses, his people.” The syntax of the statement is unclear. The translation assumes that “his people” is the subject of the verb “remembered.” If original, “Moses” is in apposition to “the days of antiquity,” more precisely identifying the time period referred to. However, the syntactical awkwardness suggests that “Moses” may have been an early marginal note (perhaps identifying “the shepherd of his flock” two lines later) that has worked its way into the text.
Isaiah 63:11 tn The Hebrew text has a plural form, which if retained and taken as a numerical plural, would probably refer to Moses, Aaron, and the Israelite tribal leaders at the time of the Exodus. Most prefer to emend the form to the singular (רָעָה, raʿah) and understand this as a reference just to Moses.
Isaiah 63:11 sn See the note at v. 10.
Isaiah 63:12 tn Heb “who caused to go at the right hand of Moses the arm of his splendor.”
Isaiah 63:12 tn Heb “making for himself a lasting name.”
Isaiah 63:13 tn Heb “in the desert [or “steppe”].”
Isaiah 63:14 tn The words “to graze” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
Isaiah 63:14 tn Or “so” (KJV, ASV), or “thus” (NAB, NRSV).
Isaiah 63:14 tn Heb “making for yourself a majestic name.”
Isaiah 63:15 tn This probably refers to his zeal for his people, which motivates him to angrily strike out against their enemies.
Isaiah 63:15 tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “the agitation of your intestines and your compassion to me they are held back.” The phrase “agitation of your intestines” is metonymic, referring to the way in which one’s nervous system reacts when one feels pity and compassion toward another. אֵלַי (ʾelay, “to me”) is awkward in this context, where the speaker represents the nation and, following the introduction (see v. 7), utilizes first person plural forms. The translation assumes an emendation to the negative particle אַל (ʾal). This also necessitates emending the following verb form (which is a plural perfect) to a singular jussive (תִתְאַפָּק, titʾappaq). The Hitpael of אָפַק (ʾafaq) also occurs in 42:14.
Isaiah 63:16 tn Heb “our protector [or “redeemer”] from antiquity [is] your name.”
Isaiah 63:17 tn Some suggest a tolerative use of the Hiphil here, “[why do] you allow us to stray?” (cf. NLT). Though the Hiphil of תָעָה (taʿah) appears to be tolerative in Jer 50:6, elsewhere it is preferable or necessary to take it as causative. See Isa 3:12; 9:15; and 30:28, as well as Gen 20:13; 2 Kgs 21:9; Job 12:24-25; Prov 12:26; Jer 23:13, 32; Hos 4:12; Amos 2:4; Mic 3:5.
Isaiah 63:17 tn This probably refers to God’s commands.
Isaiah 63:17 tn Heb “[Why do] you harden our heart[s] so as not to fear you.” The interrogative particle is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).sn How direct this hardening is, one cannot be sure. The speaker may envision direct involvement on the Lord’s part. The Lord has brought the exile as judgment for the nation’s sin and now he continues to keep them at arm’s length by blinding them spiritually. The second half of 64:7 might support this, though the precise reading of the final verb is uncertain. On the other hand, the idiom of lament is sometimes ironic and hyperbolically deterministic. For example, Naomi lamented that Shaddai was directly opposing her and bringing her calamity (Ruth 1:20-21), while the author of Ps 88 directly attributes his horrible suffering and loneliness to God (see especially vv. 6-8, 16-18). Both individuals make little, if any, room for intermediate causes or the principle of sin and death which ravages the human race. In the same way, the speaker in Isa 63:17 (who evidences great spiritual sensitivity and is anything but “hardened”) may be referring to the hardships of exile, which discouraged and even embittered the people, causing many of them to retreat from their Yahwistic faith. In this case, the “hardening” in view is more indirect and can be lifted by the Lord’s intervention. Whether the hardening here is indirect or direct, it is important to recognize that the speaker sees it as one of the effects of rebellion against the Lord (note especially 64:5-6).
Isaiah 63:18 tn Or “holy” (ASV, NASB, NRSV, TEV, NLT).
Isaiah 63:18 tn Heb “for a short time they had a possession, the people of your holiness.”
Isaiah 63:18 tn Heb “your adversaries trampled on.”
Isaiah 63:19 tn Heb “we were from antiquity” (see v. 16). The collocation of הָיָה, מִן, and עוֹלָם (hayah, min, and ʿolam) occurs only here.
Isaiah 63:19 tn Heb “you did not rule them; your name was not called over them.” The expression “the name is called over” indicates ownership; see the note at 4:1. As these two lines stand, they are very difficult to interpret. They appear to be stating that the adversaries just mentioned in v. 18 have not been subject to the Lord’s rule in the past, perhaps explaining why they could commit the atrocity described in v. 18b.

Isaiah 63

EasyEnglish Bible

The Lord punishes the nations

63 Who is this who is coming from Edom?
He is coming from Bozrah
    and his clothes are bright red.
He wears beautiful royal clothes,
    and he marches forward with great strength.
He says, ‘It is me! I, the Lord, tell you that I have won the fight!
    I have the power to save you.’
²But why are your clothes red?
You look like someone who has walked on grapes,
    and you have squeezed them to make wine.
³He says, ‘I have walked on the grapes alone.
    Nobody from the nations came to help me.
I walked on them because I was angry.
    I squeezed them to pieces in my anger.
Their blood splashed on my clothes,
    and it made all my clothes dirty.
⁴I decided that it was time to punish my enemies.
    Then I would save my people from their power.
⁵I looked for somebody to give help,
    but there was nobody.
I was very upset,
    because nobody was there to help.
So I used my own strength to rescue my people.
    My anger helped me to be strong.
⁶Because I was angry,
    I walked on the nations to punish them.
My anger was like strong wine that made them drunk.
    I poured their blood onto the ground.’

Isaiah's prayer

⁷I will speak about all the good things that the Lord does because he loves his people. We should praise him for everything that he does for us. He has done many good things for us, Israel's family. He helps us because he loves us very much, and he is very kind.

⁸The Lord said, ‘Surely, they are my own people. As my children, they will not turn against me.’ So he became their Saviour. ⁹When his people suffered, he also had pain. He sent his own angel to go and save them. Because he loved them and he was kind to them, he redeemed them. He lifted them up and he carried them, through all the years long ago.

¹⁰But they turned against him. They made his Holy Spirit angry. So he then became their enemy. He fought against them.

¹¹Then they remembered past years, when Moses led their ancestors out of Egypt. They said, ‘Where is the Lord now, when we need him? He brought his people safely through the sea, with Moses as their leader. He caused his Holy Spirit to work among them. ¹²He caused his power to be with Moses, as Moses raised his arm over the sea. He caused the waters to become separate so that his people could go across. In that way, he caused his name always to be famous. ¹³He led them through the deep water of the sea. They ran across like horses on open ground, and they did not fall. ¹⁴The Lord's Spirit led them to a place of rest, like cows that go down to a quiet valley.’

Yes, Lord, you were your people's guide. In that way, you made your name great.

¹⁵So now, do something to help us! Look down from your beautiful, holy home in heaven. Use your power to show that we are your special people. Have you forgotten how to be kind to us?

¹⁶Remember that you are our Father. Maybe our ancestor Abraham does not recognize us. Even Israel himself may not recognize us. But you, Lord, are our Father. Since times long ago, your name has been our Redeemer.

¹⁷Lord, why do you cause us to turn away from your ways? You make our minds become hard, so that we do not obey you. Please come back to help us, because we are your servants. We are the tribes that you have chosen for yourself!

¹⁸For only a short time, the holy place belonged to us, your special people. Then our enemies knocked down your temple. ¹⁹It seems that we have not belonged to you for a long time. You no longer rule over us or take care of us.

Wycliffe Bible (WYC)

2001 by Terence P. Noble

New English Translation (NET)

EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)

Isaiah 63 Wycliffe Bible

Isaiah 63 New English Translation