Isaiah 11

The Branch From Jesse

1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of power,
the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord—

3 and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.

He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
or decide by what he hears with his ears;

4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.

5 Righteousness will be his belt
and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

6 The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
and a little child will lead them.

7 The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.

8 The infant will play near the hole of the cobra,
and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest.

9 They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious.

11 In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the remnant that is left of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the sea.

12 He will raise a banner for the nations
and gather the exiles of Israel;
he will assemble the scattered people of Judah
from the four quarters of the earth.

13 Ephraim's jealousy will vanish,
and Judah's enemies will be cut off;
Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah,
nor Judah hostile toward Ephraim.

14 They will swoop down on the slopes of Philistia to the west;
together they will plunder the people to the east.
They will lay hands on Edom and Moab,
and the Ammonites will be subject to them.

15 The Lord will dry up
the gulf of the Egyptian sea;
with a scorching wind he will sweep his hand
over the Euphrates River.
He will break it up into seven streams
so that men can cross over in sandals.

16 There will be a highway for the remnant of his people
that is left from Assyria,
as there was for Israel
when they came up from Egypt.

ISAIAH 11

Peace at Last

1  t Like a branch that sprouts
from a stump,
someone from David's familyt
will someday be king.

2 The Spirit of the [Lord]
will be with him
to give him understanding,
wisdom, and insight.
He will be powerful,
and he will know
and honor the [Lord].

3 His greatest joy will be
to obey the [Lord].
This king won't judge
by appearances
or listen to rumors.

4 The poor and the needy
will be treated with fairness
and with justice.
His word will be law
everywhere in the land,
and criminals
will be put to death.

5  t Honesty and fairness
will be his royal robes.

6  t Leopards will lie down
with young goats,
and wolves will rest
with lambs.
Calves and lions
will eat together
and be cared for
by little children.

7 Cows and bears will share
the same pasture;
their young will rest
side by side.
Lions and oxen
will both eat straw.

8 Little children will play
near snake holes.
They will stick their hands
into dens of poisonous snakes
and never be hurt.

9  t Nothing harmful will take place
on the [Lord]'s holy mountain.
Just as water fills the sea,
the land will be filled
with people who know
and honor the [Lord].

God's People Will Come //Back Home

10  t The time is coming when one of David's descendantst will be the signal for the people of all nations to come together. They will follow his advice, and his own nation will become famous.
11 When that day comes, the Lord will again reach out his mighty arm and bring home his people who have survived in Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Ethiopia, t Elam, Shinar, Hamath, and the land along the coast.t 12 He will give a signal to the nations, and he will bring together the refugees from Judah and Israel, who have been scattered all over the earth. 13 Israel will stop being jealous of Judah, and Judah will no longer be the enemy of Israel.

14 Instead, they will get together and attack the Philistines in the west. Then they will defeat the Edomites, the Moabites, and the Ammonites in the east. They will rule those people and take from them whatever they want.
15  t The Lord will dry up the arm of the Red Sea near Egypt, t and he will send a scorching wind to divide the Euphrates River into seven streams that anyone can step across. 16 Then for his people who survive, there will be a good road from Assyria, just as there was a good road for their ancestors when they left Egypt.