I trod down the peoples in my anger, and made them drunk in my wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.”
Parallel translations
- KJV And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth.
- BSB I trampled the nations in My anger; in My wrath I made them drunk and poured out their blood on the ground.”
- NKJV I have trodden down the peoples in My anger, Made them drunk in My fury, And brought down their strength to the earth.”
- NASB “I trampled down the peoples in My anger And made them drunk with My wrath, And I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.”
- NLT I crushed the nations in my anger and made them stagger and fall to the ground, spilling their blood upon the earth.”
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
God treads down the nations in His anger and pours out their lifeblood. It matters because it portrays the certainty and severity of God's judgment on persistent evil.
Overview
The winepress imagery concludes with the full execution of judgment, sobering in its finality. While such language is difficult, it affirms that God will not leave wickedness unpunished forever. The New Testament holds together God's patience now (2 Peter 3:9) with His coming righteous judgment (Revelation 19:15), so that mercy in Christ is to be received before that day.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Rev 16:19The great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered in the sight of God, to give to her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
- Rev 14:10he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of his anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb.
- Isa 49:26I will feed those who oppress you with their own flesh; and they will be drunk on their own blood, as with sweet wine. Then all flesh shall know that I, Yahweh, am your Savior, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”
- Ps 60:3You have shown your people hard things. You have made us drink the wine that makes us stagger.
- Isa 51:21–23Therefore now hear this, you afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine:
- Jer 25:26–27and all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another; and all the kingdoms of the world, which are on the surface of the earth: and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them.
- Jer 25:16–17They shall drink, and reel back and forth, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them.”
- Isa 29:9Pause and wonder! Blind yourselves and be blind! They are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.
- Job 21:20Let his own eyes see his destruction. Let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
- Isa 63:2–3Why is your clothing red, and your garments like him who treads in the wine vat?
- Isa 26:5–6For he has brought down those who dwell on high, the lofty city. He lays it low. He lays it low even to the ground. He brings it even to the dust.
- Rev 18:21A mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and cast it into the sea, saying, “Thus with violence will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down, and will be found no more at all.
- Rev 16:6For they poured out the blood of the saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. They deserve this.”
- Ps 75:8For in Yahweh’s hand there is a cup, full of foaming wine mixed with spices. He pours it out. Indeed the wicked of the earth drink and drink it to its very dregs.
- Rev 18:3–6For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her sexual immorality, the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from the abundance of her luxury.”
- Isa 25:10–12For in this mountain Yahweh’s hand will rest. Moab will be trodden down in his place, even like straw is trodden down in the water of the dunghill.
- Lam 3:15He has filled me with bitterness. He has sated me with wormwood.
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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 63:6 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.