Isaiah 11

1A shoot will spring up from Jesse’s stump, and a branch out of his roots will yield fruit.

2The Spirit of Yahweh will settle on him—the Spirit of wisdom and insight, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Yahweh.

3He will take delight in fearing Yahweh. He will not pass judgment based on what his eyes see or settle cases based on what his ears hear.

4Instead, he will judge the poor with righteousness and give fair decisions for the lowly of the land. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth and put the wicked to death with the breath of his lips.

5He will wear righteousness as a belt around his waist and faithfulness as the band around his hips.

6The wolf will stay as a guest with the lamb, the leopard will bed down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling will be together, and a little boy will drive them along.

7Cow and bear will feed side by side, their young will rest together, and the lion will eat straw as the ox does.

8An infant still nursing will play by the cobra’s hole, and a child just weaned will reach his hand into the viper’s nest.

9No one will do harm or bring ruin anywhere on my holy mountain, for the knowledge of Yahweh will fill the earth as the waters cover the sea.

10When that day comes, the root of Jesse will be standing as a signal flag for the peoples. The nations will seek him out, and the place where he rests will be full of glory.

11When that day comes, the Lord will once again, a second time, lift his hand to reclaim the remnant of his people who still remain—from Assyria and Egypt, from Pathros and Cush, from Elam and Shinar, from Hamath and the islands of the sea.

12He will lift up a signal flag for the nations; he will bring together Israel’s outcasts and collect the scattered people of Judah from the earth’s four corners.

13Ephraim’s envy will come to an end, and Judah’s adversaries will be cut off. Ephraim will not envy Judah, and Judah will not be hostile toward Ephraim.

14They will fly down on the Philistine slopes to the west; together they will strip the people of the east. Edom and Moab will be within their reach, and the Ammonites will obey their orders.

15Yahweh will wipe out the tongue of the Sea of Egypt; with his scorching wind he will shake his hand over the River and strike it into seven streams, and he will make people march across in sandals.

16There will be a highway from Assyria for the remnant of his people who still remain, just as there was for Israel on the day they went up out of the land of Egypt.