The Message

Isaiah 63:1-10 The Message (MSG)

1. The watchmen call out,“Who goes there, marching out of Edom,out of Bozrah in clothes dyed red?Name yourself, so splendidly dressed,advancing, bristling with power!”“It is I: I speak what is right,I, mighty to save!”

2. “And why are your robes so red,your clothes dyed red like those who tread grapes?”

3-6. “I’ve been treading the winepress alone.No one was there to help me.Angrily, I stomped the grapes;raging, I trampled the people.Their blood spurted all over me—all my clothes were soaked with blood.I was set on vengeance.The time for redemption had arrived.I looked around for someone to help—no one.I couldn’t believe it—not one volunteer.So I went ahead and did it myself,fed and fueled by my rage.I trampled the people in my anger,crushed them under foot in my wrath,soaked the earth with their lifeblood.”

7-9. I’ll make a list of God’s gracious dealings,all the things God has done that need praising,All the generous bounties of God,his great goodness to the family of Israel—Compassion lavished,love extravagant.He said, “Without question these are my people,children who would never betray me.”So he became their Savior.In all their troubles,he was troubled, too.He didn’t send someone else to help them.He did it himself, in person.Out of his own love and pityhe redeemed them.He rescued them and carried them alongfor a long, long time.

10. But they turned on him;they grieved his Holy Spirit.So he turned on them,became their enemy and fought them.