Isaiah 11

1A shoot will grow from Jesse’s stump, and a branch out of his roots will bear fruit. 2The Spirit of the LORD will settle on him: the Spirit who gives wisdom and insight, the Spirit of counsel and power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD. 3Fearing the LORD will be his delight. He will not judge by what his eyes take in, or give rulings by what reaches his ears. 4He will do right by the poor when he judges, and give fair rulings for the lowly of the land. With his word as a rod he will strike the earth; the breath from his lips will bring death to the wicked. 5Righteousness will be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the sash bound at his hips. 6The wolf will stay as a guest with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down beside the young goat; calf and young lion and fatted steer will be together, and a small 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. 8A baby still at the breast will play by the cobra’s hole, and a child just weaned will reach into the viper’s den. 9None will hurt and none will destroy anywhere on my holy mountain, for the earth will be as full of knowing the LORD as the sea is full of water.

10On that day the root of Jesse will stand as a rallying flag for the peoples. Nations will turn to him for guidance, and the place where he settles will be filled with glory.

11On that day the Lord will act again with his own hand, a second time, to win back the remnant of his people who are left: from Assyria and from Egypt, from Pathros and Cush, from Elam, Shinar, and Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea. 12He will hoist a flag as a signal to the nations. Those driven out of Israel he will gather in, and those of Judah who were scattered he will bring together from the four corners of the earth. 13Ephraim’s envy will vanish, and Judah’s adversaries will be cut off. Ephraim will no longer envy Judah, and Judah will no longer treat Ephraim as an enemy. 14They will swoop down on the slopes of Philistia to the west; together they will plunder the peoples of the east. Edom and Moab will be within their grasp, and the Ammonites will obey them. 15The LORD will destroy the gulf of the Egyptian sea; he will sweep his hand over the River with his scorching wind and break it into seven streams, so that people can cross in their sandals. 16A highway will lead out of Assyria for the remnant of his people who are left there, as one did for Israel on the day they came up out of the land of Egypt.