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The Peaceful Kingdom

11 A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,
    and a branch shall grow[a] out of his roots.(A)
The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him,
    the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
    the spirit of counsel and might,
    the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.(B)
His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.

He shall not judge by what his eyes see
    or decide by what his ears hear,(C)
but with righteousness he shall judge for the poor
    and decide with equity for the oppressed of the earth;
he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
    and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.(D)
Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist
    and faithfulness the belt around his loins.(E)

The wolf shall live with the lamb;
    the leopard shall lie down with the kid;
the calf and the lion will feed[b] together,
    and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze;
    their young shall lie down together;
    and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,
    and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.
They will not hurt or destroy
    on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
    as the waters cover the sea.(F)

Return of the Remnant of Israel and Judah

10 On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.(G)

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Footnotes

  1. 11.1 Cn Compare Syr: Heb bear fruit
  2. 11.6 Q ms Gk Syr: MT and the fatted calf

The Branch From Jesse

11 A shoot(A) will come up from the stump(B) of Jesse;(C)
    from his roots a Branch(D) will bear fruit.(E)
The Spirit(F) of the Lord will rest on him—
    the Spirit of wisdom(G) and of understanding,
    the Spirit of counsel and of might,(H)
    the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord
and he will delight in the fear(I) of the Lord.

He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,(J)
    or decide by what he hears with his ears;(K)
but with righteousness(L) he will judge the needy,(M)
    with justice(N) he will give decisions for the poor(O) of the earth.
He will strike(P) the earth with the rod of his mouth;(Q)
    with the breath(R) of his lips he will slay the wicked.(S)
Righteousness will be his belt(T)
    and faithfulness(U) the sash around his waist.(V)

The wolf will live with the lamb,(W)
    the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling[a] together;
    and a little child will lead them.
The cow will feed with the bear,
    their young will lie down together,
    and the lion will eat straw like the ox.(X)
The infant(Y) will play near the cobra’s den,
    and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s(Z) nest.
They will neither harm nor destroy(AA)
    on all my holy mountain,(AB)
for the earth(AC) will be filled with the knowledge(AD) of the Lord
    as the waters cover the sea.

10 In that day(AE) the Root of Jesse(AF) will stand as a banner(AG) for the peoples; the nations(AH) will rally to him,(AI) and his resting place(AJ) will be glorious.(AK)

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 11:6 Hebrew; Septuagint lion will feed

The Proclamation of John the Baptist

In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”[a](A) This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said,

“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
    make his paths straight.’ ”(B)

Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.(C) Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region around the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the River Jordan, confessing their sins.(D)

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his[b] baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?(E) Therefore, bear fruit worthy of repentance,(F) and do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.(G) 10 Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.(H)

11 “I baptize you with[c] water for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is more powerful than I, and I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with[d] the Holy Spirit and fire.(I) 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”(J)

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Footnotes

  1. 3.2 Or is at hand
  2. 3.7 Other ancient authorities lack his
  3. 3.11 Or in
  4. 3.11 Or in

John the Baptist Prepares the Way(A)

In those days John the Baptist(B) came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven(C) has come near.” This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:

“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
    make straight paths for him.’”[a](D)

John’s(E) clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist.(F) His food was locusts(G) and wild honey. People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. Confessing their sins, they were baptized(H) by him in the Jordan River.

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers!(I) Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?(J) Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.(K) And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’(L) I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 10 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.(M)

11 “I baptize you with[b] water for repentance.(N) But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with[c] the Holy Spirit(O) and fire.(P) 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”(Q)

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 3:3 Isaiah 40:3
  2. Matthew 3:11 Or in
  3. Matthew 3:11 Or in