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But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit. So He turned and became their enemy, and He Himself fought against them.
Isaiah 63:10 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB But they rebelled, and grieved his holy Spirit. Therefore he turned and became their enemy, and he himself fought against them.
  • KJV But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them.
  • NKJV But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; So He turned Himself against them as an enemy, And He fought against them.
  • NASB But they rebelled And grieved His Holy Spirit; Therefore He turned Himself to become their enemy, He fought against them.
  • NLT But they rebelled against him and grieved his Holy Spirit. So he became their enemy and fought against them.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

The people rebelled and grieved God's Holy Spirit, so He turned against them. It matters because persistent sin grieves God and brings His discipline.

Overview

Despite God's love, Israel rebelled, and their sin is described as grieving 'his holy Spirit,' one of the Old Testament's clearest references to the Spirit's personal presence. Paul echoes this language in warning believers not to 'grieve the Holy Spirit of God' (Ephesians 4:30). The verse soberly shows that the God who carried His people also opposes their rebellion.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 36

  • Acts 7:51You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.
  • Eph 4:30And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
  • Ps 78:56But they tested and disobeyed God Most High, for they did not keep His decrees.
  • Ps 78:40How often they disobeyed Him in the wilderness and grieved Him in the desert!
  • Jer 21:5And I Myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and a mighty arm, with anger, fury, and great wrath.
  • Neh 9:16–17But they and our fathers became arrogant and stiff-necked and did not obey Your commandments.
  • Ezek 20:8But they rebelled against Me and refused to listen. None of them cast away the abominations before their eyes, and they did not forsake the idols of Egypt. So I resolved to pour out My wrath upon them and vent My anger against them in the land of Egypt.
  • Ps 51:11Cast me not away from Your presence; take not Your Holy Spirit from me.
  • Deut 9:7Remember this, and never forget how you provoked the LORD your God in the wilderness. From the day you left the land of Egypt until you reached this place, you have been rebelling against the LORD.
  • Neh 9:29You admonished them to turn back to Your law, but they were arrogant and disobeyed Your commandments. They sinned against Your ordinances, by which a man will live if he practices them. They stubbornly shrugged their shoulders; they stiffened their necks and would not obey.
  • Exod 15:24So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?”
  • Ps 78:8Then they will not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose heart was not loyal, whose spirit was not faithful to God.
  • Ezek 2:7But speak My words to them, whether they listen or refuse to listen, for they are rebellious.
  • Ps 95:9–11where your fathers tested and tried Me, though they had seen My work.
  • Deut 32:19–25When the LORD saw this, He rejected them, provoked to anger by His sons and daughters.
  • Ezek 20:21But the children rebelled against Me. They did not walk in My statutes or carefully observe My ordinances—though the man who does these things will live by them—and they profaned My Sabbaths. So I resolved to pour out My wrath upon them and vent My anger against them in the wilderness.
  • Exod 16:8And Moses added, “The LORD will give you meat to eat this evening and bread to fill you in the morning, for He has heard your grumbling against Him. Who are we? Your grumblings are not against us but against the LORD.”
  • Ezek 6:9Then in the nations to which they have been carried captive, your survivors will remember Me—how I have been grieved by their adulterous hearts that turned away from Me, and by their eyes that lusted after idols. So they will loathe themselves for the evil they have done and for all their abominations.
  • Exod 23:21Pay attention to him and listen to his voice; do not defy him, for he will not forgive rebellion, since My Name is in him.
  • Ps 78:49He unleashed His fury against them, wrath, indignation, and calamity—a band of destroying angels.
  • Ezek 20:13Yet the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not follow My statutes and they rejected My ordinances—though the man who does these things will live by them—and they utterly profaned My Sabbaths. Then I resolved to pour out My wrath upon them and put an end to them in the wilderness.
  • Lam 1:18The LORD is righteous, for I have rebelled against His command. Listen, all you people; look upon my suffering. My young men and maidens have gone into captivity.
  • Num 16:1–35Now Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath son of Levi, along with some Reubenites—Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth—conducted
  • Matt 22:7The king was enraged, and he sent his troops to destroy those murderers and burn their city.
  • Neh 9:26But they were disobedient and rebelled against You; they flung Your law behind their backs. They killed Your prophets, who had admonished them to return to You. They committed terrible blasphemies.
  • Isa 65:2All day long I have held out My hands to an obstinate people who walk in the wrong path, who follow their own imaginations,
  • Lev 26:17–46And I will set My face against you, so that you will be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee when no one pursues you.
  • Lam 2:4–5He has bent His bow like an enemy; His right hand is positioned. Like a foe He has killed all who were pleasing to the eye; He has poured out His wrath like fire on the tent of the Daughter of Zion.
  • Exod 32:8How quickly they have turned aside from the way that I commanded them! They have made for themselves a molten calf and have bowed down to it. They have sacrificed to it and said, ‘These, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.’”
  • Num 14:9–11Only do not rebel against the LORD, and do not be afraid of the people of the land, for they will be like bread for us. Their protection has been removed, and the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them!”
  • Isa 1:2Listen, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the LORD has spoken: “I have raised children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against Me.
  • Deut 28:15–68If, however, you do not obey the LORD your God by carefully following all His commandments and statutes I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:
  • Ezek 2:3“Son of man,” He said to me, “I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against Me. To this very day they and their fathers have rebelled against Me.
  • Lam 1:20See, O LORD, how distressed I am! I am churning within; my heart is pounding within me, for I have been most rebellious. Outside, the sword bereaves; inside, there is death.
  • Jer 30:14All your lovers have forgotten you; they no longer seek you, for I have struck you as an enemy would, with the discipline of someone cruel, because of your great iniquity and your numerous sins.
  • Deut 9:22–24You continued to provoke the LORD at Taberah, at Massah, and at Kibroth-hattaavah.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Isaiah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Isaiah 63:10YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on IsaiahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).

How Isaiah 63:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.