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The King who brings peace

11 A descendant of Jesse will appear, like a new branch that grows from a tree stump. The roots of the tree will give new fruit![a]

The Spirit of the Lord will be with him.

The Spirit will make him wise,
    so that he understands things.
The Spirit will show him what is right,
    and he will have the power to do it.
The Spirit will cause him to know the Lord
    and to serve him truly.

To obey the Lord will make him very happy. He will not judge people because of what he sees with his eyes. He will not judge them because of what he hears about them with his ears.

But he will judge poor people with true justice. He will decide to do what is right for all the helpless people. He will have authority everywhere in the land. The words that he speaks will bring death to wicked people. He will wear justice like a belt round his clothes. He will always be honest and true.

When he is king, wolves will live beside lambs! Leopards will lie down with young goats! Young cows and lions will feed together, and a young child will take care of them!

Cows and bears will feed together. Even their children will lie down side by side. Lions will eat grass, as cows do.

If a baby plays near the hole where a snake lives, he will be safe. A young child may even put his hand into the hole of a dangerous snake.

Nothing will hurt or destroy anything else anywhere on my holy mountain. Instead, people will know the Lord all over the earth, as water fills the whole sea.

10 On that day, King David's descendant, the root of Jesse, will appear. He will be like a clear sign to all nations. They will come to him, so that he leads them. The place where he lives as king will be wonderful.

11 And on that day, the Lord God will bring his people back once again. He will lift up his powerful hand to rescue his people who are still alive. He will bring them back from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Babylonia, Hamath and from countries near the sea.

12 The Lord will lift up a clear sign for the nations to see. He will bring together Israel's people that their enemies took away. Yes, he will bring back Judah's exiles from all over the earth. 13 Ephraim will no longer be jealous of Judah. Judah will no longer be Ephraim's enemy.[b] 14 But they will join together to attack the Philistines in the west. They will also attack the nations to the east of Israel. They will take their valuable things for themselves. They will win against the people of Edom and Moab. They will rule over the Ammonites.

15 The Lord will make the Sea of Egypt become dry. He will lift up his hand and he will send a strong wind to divide the Euphrates river. The river will become seven small streams. Then people can walk across it easily.

16 There will be a good road that comes from Assyria. The Lord's people who remain will travel back home on it. It will be like the road that Israel's people travelled on when they left Egypt.

Footnotes

  1. 11:1 Jesse was the father of King David. The stump of a tree is the part that remains in the ground after the tree has been cut down. It still has roots that go into the ground.
  2. 11:13 Judah was the Israelite kingdom in the south. Ephraim was the Israelite kingdom in the north.

The Righteous Reign of the Branch

11 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of (A)Jesse,
    and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
And (B)the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
    the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
    the Spirit of counsel and might,
    the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
(C)He shall not judge by (D)what his eyes see,
    or decide disputes by (E)what his ears hear,
but (F)with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
    and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall (G)strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
    and (H)with the breath of his lips (I)he shall kill the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
    and (J)faithfulness the belt of his loins.

(K)The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
    and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf 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 cobra,
    and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den.
(L)They shall not hurt or destroy
    in all (M)my holy mountain;
(N)for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
    as the waters cover the sea.

10 In that day (O)the root of (P)Jesse, who shall stand as (Q)a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.

11 (R)In that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of his people, (S)from Assyria, (T)from Egypt, from (U)Pathros, from (V)Cush,[a] from (W)Elam, from (X)Shinar, from (Y)Hamath, and from (Z)the coastlands of the sea.

12 He will raise (AA)a signal for the nations
    and will assemble (AB)the banished of Israel,
and gather the dispersed of Judah
    from the four corners of the earth.
13 (AC)The jealousy of Ephraim shall depart,
    and those who harass Judah shall be cut off;
Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah,
    and Judah shall not harass Ephraim.
14 (AD)But they shall swoop down on the shoulder of the Philistines in the west,
    and together they shall plunder (AE)the people of the east.
They shall put out their hand (AF)against (AG)Edom and (AH)Moab,
    and (AI)the Ammonites shall obey them.
15 And the Lord will utterly destroy[b]
    (AJ)the tongue of the Sea of Egypt,
and will wave his hand over (AK)the River[c]
    with his scorching breath,[d]
and strike it into seven channels,
    and he will lead people across in sandals.
16 And there will be (AL)a highway from Assyria
    for the remnant that remains of his people,
(AM)as there was for Israel
    when they came up from the land of Egypt.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 11:11 Probably Nubia
  2. Isaiah 11:15 Hebrew devote to destruction
  3. Isaiah 11:15 That is, the Euphrates
  4. Isaiah 11:15 Or wind

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) 11 In that day(AL) the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the surviving remnant(AM) of his people from Assyria,(AN) from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt,(AO) from Cush,[b](AP) from Elam,(AQ) from Babylonia,[c] from Hamath(AR) and from the islands(AS) of the Mediterranean.(AT)

12 He will raise a banner(AU) for the nations
    and gather(AV) the exiles of Israel;(AW)
he will assemble the scattered people(AX) of Judah
    from the four quarters of the earth.(AY)
13 Ephraim’s jealousy will vanish,
    and Judah’s enemies[d] will be destroyed;
Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah,
    nor Judah hostile toward Ephraim.(AZ)
14 They will swoop down on the slopes of Philistia(BA) to the west;
    together they will plunder the people to the east.(BB)
They will subdue Edom(BC) and Moab,(BD)
    and the Ammonites(BE) will be subject to them.(BF)
15 The Lord will dry up(BG)
    the gulf of the Egyptian sea;
with a scorching wind(BH) he will sweep his hand(BI)
    over the Euphrates River.(BJ)
He will break it up into seven streams
    so that anyone can cross over in sandals.(BK)
16 There will be a highway(BL) for the remnant(BM) of his people
    that is left from Assyria,(BN)
as there was for Israel
    when they came up from Egypt.(BO)

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 11:6 Hebrew; Septuagint lion will feed
  2. Isaiah 11:11 That is, the upper Nile region
  3. Isaiah 11:11 Hebrew Shinar
  4. Isaiah 11:13 Or hostility

The Reign of Jesse’s Offspring(A)

11 There (B)shall come forth a [a]Rod from the [b]stem of (C)Jesse,
And (D)a Branch shall [c]grow out of his roots.
(E)The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him,
The Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The Spirit of counsel and might,
The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.

His delight is in the fear of the Lord,
And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes,
Nor decide by the hearing of His ears;
But (F)with righteousness He shall judge the poor,
And decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
He shall (G)strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,
And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins,
And faithfulness the belt of His waist.

“The(H) wolf also shall dwell with the lamb,
The leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
The calf and the young lion and the fatling together;
And a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze;
Their young ones shall lie down together;
And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole,
And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den.
(I)They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,
For (J)the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
As the waters cover the sea.

10 “And(K) in that day (L)there shall be a Root of Jesse,
Who shall stand as a (M)banner to the people;
For the (N)Gentiles shall seek Him,
And His resting place shall be glorious.”

11 It shall come to pass in that day
That the Lord shall set His hand again the second time
To recover the remnant of His people who are left,
(O)From Assyria and Egypt,
From Pathros and Cush,
From Elam and Shinar,
From Hamath and the [d]islands of the sea.

12 He will set up a banner for the nations,
And will [e]assemble the outcasts of Israel,
And gather together (P)the dispersed of Judah
From the four [f]corners of the earth.
13 Also (Q)the envy of Ephraim shall depart,
And the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off;
Ephraim shall not envy Judah,
And Judah shall not harass Ephraim.
14 But they shall fly down upon the shoulder of the Philistines toward the west;
Together they shall plunder the [g]people of the East;
(R)They shall lay their hand on Edom and Moab;
And the people of Ammon shall obey them.
15 The Lord (S)will utterly [h]destroy the tongue of the Sea of Egypt;
With His mighty wind He will shake His fist over [i]the River,
And strike it in the seven streams,
And make men cross over [j]dry-shod.
16 (T)There will be a highway for the remnant of His people
Who will be left from Assyria,
(U)As it was for Israel
In the day that he came up from the land of Egypt.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 11:1 Shoot
  2. Isaiah 11:1 stock or trunk
  3. Isaiah 11:1 be fruitful
  4. Isaiah 11:11 Or coastlands
  5. Isaiah 11:12 gather
  6. Isaiah 11:12 Lit. wings
  7. Isaiah 11:14 Lit. sons
  8. Isaiah 11:15 So with MT, Vg.; LXX, Syr., Tg. dry up
  9. Isaiah 11:15 The Euphrates
  10. Isaiah 11:15 Lit. in sandals