Isaiah 63

1 Who is this who comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? Who is this who is glorious in his clothing, marching in the greatness of his strength? “It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.”

2 Why is your clothing red, and your garments like him who treads in the wine vat?

3 “I have trodden the wine press alone. Of the peoples, no one was with me. Yes, I trod them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath. Their lifeblood is sprinkled on my garments, and I have stained all my clothing.

4 For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my redeemed has come.

5 I looked, and there was no one to help; and I wondered that there was no one to uphold. Therefore my own arm brought salvation to me. My own wrath upheld me.

6 I trod down the peoples in my anger and made them drunk in my wrath. I poured their lifeblood out on the earth.”

7 I will tell of the loving kindnesses of the LORD and the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD has given to us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he has given to them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses.

8 For he said, “Surely, they are my people, children who will not deal falsely;” so he became their Savior.

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. He bore them, and carried them all the days of old.

10 But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit. Therefore he turned and became their enemy, and he himself fought against them.

11 Then he remembered the days of old, Moses and his people, saying, “Where is he who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is he who put his Holy Spirit among them?”

12 Who caused his glorious arm to be at Moses’ right hand? Who divided the waters before them, to make himself an everlasting name?

13 Who led them through the depths, like a horse in the wilderness, so that they didn’t stumble?

14 As the livestock that go down into the valley, the LORD’s Spirit caused them to rest. So you led your people to make yourself a glorious name.

15 Look down from heaven, and see from the habitation of your holiness and of your glory. Where are your zeal and your mighty acts? The yearning of your heart and your compassion is restrained toward me.

16 For you are our Father, though Abraham doesn’t know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, LORD, are our Father. Our Redeemer from everlasting is your name.

17 O LORD, why do you make us wander from your ways, and harden our heart from your fear? Return for your servants’ sake, the tribes of your inheritance.

18 Your holy people possessed it but a little while. Our adversaries have trodden down your sanctuary.

19 We have become like those over whom you never ruled, like those who were not called by your name.

Around Isaiah 63

Context

Context for this book is being written. A note appears here only once it names its sources.

AI explanation

About Isaiah as a whole · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this book is about

It begins with a vision. In the year that King Uzziah died, the prophet sees the Lord on a throne, high and lifted up, and voices call, “Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of Armies!” Then comes a call for someone to go, and the answer, “Here I am. Send me!”

What he is sent to say is hard and then tender. To Judah and Jerusalem, the first part of the book (chapters 1 to 39) warns of the consequences of injustice and false trust, and it promises a child who will rule on David’s throne. The second part (40 to 55) opens with “Comfort, comfort my people” and speaks to a people in exile, and it tells of a servant who suffers for others. The last part (56 to 66) looks ahead to a renewed people and to a new heavens and a new earth.

Background

Isaiah son of Amoz prophesied in Jerusalem in the second half of the eighth century before Christ, while the Assyrian threat hung over the land. Many scholars think chapters 40 to 66 come from later prophets in his tradition, speaking during and after the exile. Others hold that Isaiah wrote the whole book. Either way, the book reads as one long conversation between God and a people who swing between fear and false confidence.

How Christians read it

No prophet is quoted more in the New Testament. Readers have long weighed who the suffering servant is. Christians read the servant of chapter 53 as fulfilled in the death of Jesus, and Jewish interpretation has most often understood the servant as Israel. Passages such as 7:14 and 9:6 are read by Christians as pointing to Christ, while also having a meaning in Isaiah’s own day. These are old readings held by people who love the same pages.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 20 October 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

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World English Bible. Public-domain source and edition notes