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A Branch from David’s Line

11 Out of the stump of David’s family[a] will grow a shoot—
    yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root.
And the Spirit of the Lord will 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.
He will delight in obeying the Lord.
    He will not judge by appearance
    nor make a decision based on hearsay.
He will give justice to the poor
    and make fair decisions for the exploited.
The earth will shake at the force of his word,
    and one breath from his mouth will destroy the wicked.
He will wear righteousness like a belt
    and truth like an undergarment.

In that day the wolf and the lamb will live together;
    the leopard will lie down with the baby goat.
The calf and the yearling will be safe with the lion,
    and a little child will lead them all.
The cow will graze near the bear.
    The cub and the calf will lie down together.
    The lion will eat hay like a cow.
The baby will play safely near the hole of a cobra.
    Yes, a little child will put its hand in a nest of deadly snakes without harm.
Nothing will hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain,
    for as the waters fill the sea,
    so the earth will be filled with people who know the Lord.

10 In that day the heir to David’s throne[b]
    will be a banner of salvation to all the world.
The nations will rally to him,
    and the land where he lives will be a glorious place.[c]
11 In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time
    to bring back the remnant of his people—
those who remain in Assyria and northern Egypt;
    in southern Egypt, Ethiopia,[d] and Elam;
    in Babylonia,[e] Hamath, and all the distant coastlands.
12 He will raise a flag among the nations
    and assemble the exiles of Israel.
He will gather the scattered people of Judah
    from the ends of the earth.

13 Then at last the jealousy between Israel[f] and Judah will end.
    They will not be rivals anymore.
14 They will join forces to swoop down on Philistia to the west.
    Together they will attack and plunder the nations to the east.
They will occupy the lands of Edom and Moab,
    and Ammon will obey them.
15 The Lord will make a dry path through the gulf of the Red Sea.[g]
    He will wave his hand over the Euphrates River,[h]
sending a mighty wind to divide it into seven streams
    so it can easily be crossed on foot.
16 He will make a highway for the remnant of his people,
    the remnant coming from Assyria,
just as he did for Israel long ago
    when they returned from Egypt.

Footnotes

  1. 11:1 Hebrew the stump of the line of Jesse. Jesse was King David’s father.
  2. 11:10a Hebrew the root of Jesse.
  3. 11:10b Greek version reads In that day the heir to David’s throne [literally the root of Jesse] will come, / and he will rule over the Gentiles. / They will place their hopes on him. Compare Rom 15:12.
  4. 11:11a Hebrew in Pathros, Cush.
  5. 11:11b Hebrew in Shinar.
  6. 11:13 Hebrew Ephraim, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel.
  7. 11:15a Hebrew will destroy the tongue of the sea of Egypt.
  8. 11:15b Hebrew the river.

The Branch’s Righteous Reign

11 And a shoot will come out from the stump of Jesse,
    and a branch from its roots will bear fruit.
And the spirit of Yahweh shall rest on him—
    a spirit of wisdom and understanding,
    a spirit of counsel and might,
    a spirit of knowledge and the fear of Yahweh.
    And his breath[a] is in the fear of Yahweh.
And he shall judge not by his eyesight,
    and he shall rebuke not by what he hears with[b] his ears.
But he shall judge the poor with righteousness,
    and he shall decide for the needy of the earth with rectitude.
And he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
    and he shall kill the wicked person with the breath of his lips.
And righteousness shall be the belt around his waist,
    and faithfulness the belt around his loins.
And a wolf shall stay[c] with a lamb,
    and a leopard shall lie down with a kid,
and a calf and a lion and a fatling together
    as a small boy leads[d] them.
And a cow and a bear shall graze;
    their young shall lie down together.
    And a lion shall eat straw like the cattle.
And an infant[e] shall play over a serpent’s hole,
    and a toddler[f] shall put his hand on a viper’s hole.
They will not injure and they will not destroy on all of my holy mountain,[g]
    for the earth will be full of the knowledge of Yahweh,
        as the waters cover the sea.

10 And this shall happen on that day:

the nations shall inquire of the root of Jesse,
which shall be standing as a signal to the peoples,
and his resting place shall be glorious.

The Regathered Remnant

11 And this shall happen on that day:

The Lord will again extend his hand a second time
to acquire the remnant of his people that is left,
from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, and the coastlands of the sea,
12 and he will raise a signal for the nations.
And he will gather the outcasts of Israel,
    and he will gather the scattered ones of Judah together from the four corners[h] of the earth.
13 And the jealousy of Ephraim shall depart,
    and the enemies of Judah shall be cut off.
Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah,
    and Judah shall not be an enemy of Ephraim.
14 But they shall swoop[i] upon the Philistine shoulder,[j] westward.[k]
    Together they shall plunder the sons of the east.
Edom and Moab will be under their command,[l]
    and the sons of Ammon will be their subjugated people.
15 And Yahweh will divide[m] the tongue[n] of the sea of Egypt,[o]
    and he will wave his hand over the river[p] with his scorching wind;
and he will strike it into seven streams,
    and he will make it passable by foot.[q]
16 So there shall be a highway from Assyria for the remnant of his people that remains,
    as there was for Israel when[r] it went up from the land of Egypt.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 11:3 Hebrew “smelling,” perhaps metaphorically as “delight” as in Amos 5:14; perhaps this line was accidentally copied twice from the preceding line
  2. Isaiah 11:3 Literally “the rumors of”
  3. Isaiah 11:6 Literally “dwell as an alien”
  4. Isaiah 11:6 Literally “and a small boy leading”
  5. Isaiah 11:8 Literally “one nursing”
  6. Isaiah 11:8 Literally “one who is weaned”
  7. Isaiah 11:9 Literally “mountain of holiness”
  8. Isaiah 11:12 Literally “wings”
  9. Isaiah 11:14 Literally “fly”
  10. Isaiah 11:14 That is, the hill country west of Judah
  11. Isaiah 11:14 Literally “sea”
  12. Isaiah 11:14 Literally “the stretching of their hand”
  13. Isaiah 11:15 Or “utterly destroy”
  14. Isaiah 11:15 Probably the “gulf”
  15. Isaiah 11:15 That is, the Red Sea
  16. Isaiah 11:15 That is, the Euphrates River
  17. Isaiah 11:15 Literally “cause to walk with the sandal”
  18. Isaiah 11:16 Literally “in the day”