Old Testament · Prophecy

Isaiah 63

The Winepress

Who is this coming from Edom, with garments stained crimson? God has trodden the winepress alone. Judgment and salvation in the same image.

Berean Standard Bible BSB KJV

1Who is this coming from Edom, from Bozrah with crimson-stained garments? Who is this robed in splendor, marching in the greatness of His strength? “It is I, proclaiming vindication, mighty to save.”

2Why are Your clothes red, and Your garments like one who treads the winepress?

3“I have trodden the winepress alone, and no one from the nations was with Me. I trampled them in My anger and trod them down in My fury; their blood spattered My garments, and all My clothes were stained.

4For the day of vengeance was in My heart, and the year of My redemption had come.

5I looked, but there was no one to help; I was appalled that no one assisted. So My arm brought Me salvation, and My own wrath upheld Me.

6I trampled the nations in My anger; in My wrath I made them drunk and poured out their blood on the ground.”

7I will make known the LORD’s loving devotion and His praiseworthy acts, because of all that the LORD has done for us— the many good things for the house of Israel according to His great compassion and loving devotion.

8For He said, “They are surely My people, sons who will not be disloyal.” So He became their Savior.

9In all their distress, He too was afflicted, and the Angel of His Presence saved them. In His love and compassion He redeemed them; He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.

10But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit. So He turned and became their enemy, and He Himself fought against them.

11Then His people remembered the days of old, the days of Moses. Where is He who brought them through the sea with the shepherds of His flock? Where is the One who set His Holy Spirit among them,

12who sent His glorious arm to lead them by the right hand of Moses, who divided the waters before them to gain for Himself everlasting renown,

13who led them through the depths like a horse in the wilderness, so that they did not stumble?

14Like cattle going down to the valley, the Spirit of the LORD gave them rest. You led Your people this way to make for Yourself a glorious name.

15Look down from heaven and see, from Your holy and glorious habitation. Where are Your zeal and might? Your yearning and compassion for me are restrained.

16Yet You are our Father, though Abraham does not know us and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, O LORD, are our Father; our Redeemer from Everlasting is Your name.

17Why, O LORD, do You make us stray from Your ways and harden our hearts from fearing You? Return, for the sake of Your servants, the tribes of Your heritage.

18For a short while Your people possessed Your holy place, but our enemies have trampled Your sanctuary.

19We have become like those You never ruled, like those not called by Your name.

Understand This

Isaiah 63, explained

What Isaiah 63 is saying

A warrior arrives from Edom with garments stained red—He has trodden the winepress of judgment alone, with no help from anyone. The chapter then shifts to a communal lament recalling God's lovingkindness and the Holy Spirit's grief when Israel rebelled. The prayer culminates in a plea: 'You are our Father; Abraham does not know us.'

The background behind it

The winepress imagery influenced Revelation 14:19–20 and 19:15. The reference to the Holy Spirit being grieved (v. 10) is one of the few Old Testament passages attributing personal emotion to the Spirit, cited by Paul in Ephesians 4:30.

Themes running underneath

Divine judgment is a solitary act—no human assists. The communal lament honestly acknowledges national failure while appealing to God as Father, a title that transcends even patriarchal identity. The Spirit's grief reveals that rebellion causes divine pain.

Why it still matters

When you grieve the Holy Spirit, it is not because God is fragile but because He loves you that deeply. And when human fathers and heroes fail, God remains Father.

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Scripture text: Berean Standard Bible — used by permission, Bible Hub.