Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

11 But there shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse. And a Branch shall grow out of his roots.

² And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him—the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge, and of the fear of the LORD—

³ and shall make Him prudent in the fear of the LORD. For He shall not judge after the sight of His eyes, nor rebuke by the hearing of His ears.

⁴ But with righteousness, He shall judge the lowly. And with equality, He shall rebuke for the poor of the Earth. And He shall strike the Earth with the rod of His Mouth. And with the Breath of His Lips shall He slay the wicked.

⁵ And justice shall be the belt of His loins, and faithfulness the belt of His reins.

⁶ The wolf, also, shall dwell with the lamb. And the leopard shall lie with the kid and the calf and the lion and the fat beast, together. And a little child shall lead them.

⁷ And the cow and the bear shall feed. Their young ones shall lie together. And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

⁸ And the sucking child shall play upon the hole of the asp. And the weaned child shall put his hand upon the viper’s hole.

⁹ Then shall no one hurt or destroy in all the mountain of My Holiness. For the Earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters that cover the sea.

⁸ “And you, O tower of the flock, the stronghold of the daughter Zion! To you it shall come. The former dominion kingdom shall come to the daughter Jerusalem.”

⁹ Now, why do you cry out with lamentation? Is there no king in you? Has your counselor perished? For sorrow has taken you, as a woman in labor.

¹⁰ Sorrow and mourn, O daughter Zion, like a woman in labor! For now, you shall go forth from the city and dwell in the field and shall go into Babel. There you shall be delivered. There the LORD shall redeem you from the hand of your enemies.

¹¹ Also now, many nations are gathered against you, saying, “Zion shall be condemned!” and “Our eye shall look upon Zion!”

¹² But they do not know the thoughts of the LORD. They do not understand His counsel. For He shall gather them as the sheaves in the barn.

¹³ “Arise and thresh, O daughter Zion! For I will make your horn iron. And I will make your hooves bronze. And you shall break many people in pieces. And I will consecrate their riches to the LORD, and their substance to the Ruler of the whole world.”

³¹ And the Lord said, “To what shall I liken the men of this generation? And what are they like?

³² “They are like little children sitting in the marketplace, crying one to another, saying, ‘We have played the flute for you, and you have not danced. We have mourned for you, and you have not wept.’

³³ “For John Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine. And you say, ‘He has a demon.’

³⁴ “The Son of Man has come, and eats, and drinks. And you say, ‘Behold, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’

³⁵ “But wisdom is justified by all her children.”