God’s Day of Vengeance and Redemption

63 Who is this coming from Edom,w

from Bozrah,x with his garments stained crimson?y

Who is this, robed in splendor,

striding forward in the greatness of his strength?z

“It is I, proclaiming victory,

mighty to save.”a

2 Why are your garments red,

like those of one treading the winepress?b

3 “I have trodden the winepressc alone;

from the nations no one was with me.

I trampledd them in my anger

and trod them down in my wrath;e

their blood spattered my garments,f

and I stained all my clothing.

4 It was for me the day of vengeance;g

the year for me to redeem had come.

5 I looked, but there was no oneh to help,

I was appalled that no one gave support;

so my own armi achieved salvation for me,

and my own wrath sustained me.j

6 I trampledk the nations in my anger;

in my wrath I made them drunkl

and poured their bloodm on the ground.”

Praise and Prayer

7 I will tell of the kindnessesn of the Lord,

the deeds for which he is to be praised,

according to all the Lord has done for us—

yes, the many good thingso

he has done for Israel,

according to his compassionp and many kindnesses.

8 He said, “Surely they are my people,q

children who will be true to me”;

and so he became their Savior.r

9 In all their distress he too was distressed,

and the angels of his presencet saved them.a

In his love and mercy he redeemedu them;

he lifted them up and carriedv them

all the days of old.w

10 Yet they rebelledx

and grieved his Holy Spirit.y

So he turned and became their enemyz

and he himself foughta against them.

11 Then his people recalledb the days of old,

the days of Moses and his people—

where is he who brought them through the sea,b

with the shepherd of his flock?c

Where is he who set

his Holy Spiritd among them,

12 who sent his glorious arme of power

to be at Moses’ right hand,

who divided the watersf before them,

to gain for himself everlasting renown,g

13 who ledh them through the depths?i

Like a horse in open country,

they did not stumble;j

14 like cattle that go down to the plain,

they were given restk by the Spirit of the Lord.

This is how you guided your people

to make for yourself a glorious name.

15 Look down from heavenl and see,

from your lofty throne,m holy and glorious.

Where are your zealn and your might?

Your tenderness and compassiono are withheldp from us.

16 But you are our Father,q

though Abraham does not know us

or Israel acknowledger us;

you, Lord, are our Father,

our Redeemers from of old is your name.

17 Why, Lord, do you make us wandert from your ways

and harden our heartsu so we do not reverev you?

Returnw for the sake of your servants,

the tribes that are your inheritance.x

18 For a little whiley your people possessed your holy place,

but now our enemies have trampledz down your sanctuary.a

19 We are yours from of old;

but you have not ruled over them,

they have not been calledc by your name.b

64 a Oh, that you would rend the heavensc and come down,d

that the mountainse would tremble before you!

2 As when fire sets twigs ablaze

and causes water to boil,

come down to make your namef known to your enemies

and cause the nations to quakeg before you!

3 For when you did awesomeh things that we did not expect,

you came down, and the mountains trembledi before you.

4 Since ancient times no one has heard,

no ear has perceived,

no eye has seen any God besides you,j

who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.k

5 You come to the help of those who gladly do right,l

who remember your ways.

But when we continued to sin against them,

you were angry.m

How then can we be saved?

6 All of us have become like one who is unclean,n

and all our righteouso acts are like filthy rags;

we all shrivel up like a leaf,p

and like the wind our sins sweep us away.q

7 No oner calls on your names

or strives to lay hold of you;

for you have hiddent your face from us

and have given us overu tob our sins.

8 Yet you, Lord, are our Father.v

We are the clay, you are the potter;w

we are all the work of your hand.x

9 Do not be angryy beyond measure, Lord;

do not remember our sinsz forever.

Oh, look on us, we pray,

for we are all your people.a

10 Your sacred citiesb have become a wasteland;

even Zion is a wasteland, Jerusalem a desolation.c

11 Our holy and glorious temple,d where our ancestors praised you,

has been burned with fire,

and all that we treasurede lies in ruins.

12 After all this, Lord, will you hold yourself back?f

Will you keep silentg and punish us beyond measure?

Judgment and Salvation

65 “I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me;

I was found by those who did not seek me.h

To a nationi that did not call on my name,j

I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.’

2 All day long I have held out my hands

to an obstinate people,k

who walk in ways not good,

pursuing their own imaginationsl—

3 a people who continually provoke me

to my very face,m

offering sacrifices in gardensn

and burning incenseo on altars of brick;

4 who sit among the gravesp

and spend their nights keeping secret vigil;

who eat the flesh of pigs,q

and whose pots hold broth of impure meat;

5 who say, ‘Keep away; don’t come near me,

for I am too sacredr for you!’

Such people are smokes in my nostrils,

a fire that keeps burning all day.

6 “See, it stands written before me:

I will not keep silentt but will pay backu in full;

I will pay it back into their lapsv—

7 both your sinsw and the sins of your ancestors,”x

says the Lord.

“Because they burned sacrifices on the mountains

and defied me on the hills,y

I will measure into their laps

the full paymentz for their former deeds.”

8 This is what the Lord says:

“As when juice is still found in a cluster of grapesa

and people say, ‘Don’t destroy it,

there is still a blessing in it,’

so will I do in behalf of my servants;b

I will not destroy them all.

9 I will bring forth descendantsc from Jacob,

and from Judah those who will possessd my mountains;

my chosene people will inherit them,

and there will my servants live.f

10 Sharong will become a pasture for flocks,h

and the Valley of Achori a resting place for herds,

for my people who seekj me.

11 “But as for you who forsakek the Lord

and forget my holy mountain,l

who spread a table for Fortune

and fill bowls of mixed winem for Destiny,

12 I will destine you for the sword,n

and all of you will fall in the slaughter;o

for I called but you did not answer,p

I spoke but you did not listen.q

You did evil in my sight

and chose what displeases me.”r

13 Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“My servants will eat,s

but you will go hungry;t

my servants will drink,u

but you will go thirsty;v

my servants will rejoice,w

but you will be put to shame.x

14 My servants will singy

out of the joy of their hearts,

but you will cry outz

from anguish of heart

and wail in brokenness of spirit.

15 You will leave your name

for my chosen ones to use in their curses;a

the Sovereign Lord will put you to death,

but to his servants he will give another name.b

16 Whoever invokes a blessingc in the land

will do so by the one true God;d

whoever takes an oath in the land

will sweare by the one true God.

For the past troublesf will be forgotten

and hidden from my eyes.

New Heavens and a New Earth

17 “See, I will create

new heavens and a new earth.g

The former things will not be remembered,h

nor will they come to mind.

18 But be glad and rejoicei forever

in what I will create,

for I will create Jerusalemj to be a delight

and its people a joy.

19 I will rejoicek over Jerusalem

and take delightl in my people;

the sound of weeping and of cryingm

will be heard in it no more.

20 “Never again will there be in it

an infantn who lives but a few days,

or an old man who does not live out his years;o

the one who dies at a hundred

will be thought a mere child;

the one who fails to reacha a hundred

will be considered accursed.

21 They will build housesp and dwell in them;

they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.q

22 No longer will they build houses and others live in them,r

or plant and others eat.

For as the days of a tree,s

so will be the dayst of my people;

my chosenu ones will long enjoy

the work of their hands.

23 They will not labor in vain,v

nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune;w

for they will be a people blessedx by the Lord,

they and their descendantsy with them.

24 Before they callz I will answer;a

while they are still speakingb I will hear.

25 The wolf and the lambc will feed together,

and the lion will eat straw like the ox,d

and dust will be the serpent’se food.

They will neither harm nor destroy

on all my holy mountain,”f

says the Lord.