The Root of Jesse

1And a rod will go forth from the root of Jesse, and a flower will ascend from his root.

2And the Spirit of the Lord will rest upon him: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and fortitude, the spirit of knowledge and piety.

3And he will be filled with the spirit of the fear of the Lord. He will not judge according to the sight of the eyes, nor reprove according to the hearing of the ears.

4Instead, he will judge the poor with justice, and he will reprove the meek of the earth with fairness. And he will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and he will slay the impious with the spirit of his lips.

5And justice will be the belt around his waist. And faith will be the warrior’s belt at his side.

6The wolf will dwell with the lamb; and the leopard will lie down with the kid; the calf and the lion and the sheep will abide together; and a little boy will drive them.

7The calf and the bear will feed together; their young ones will rest together. And the lion will eat straw like the ox.

8And a breastfeeding infant will play above the lair of the asp. And a child who has been weaned will thrust his hand into the den of the king snake.

9They will not harm, and they will not kill, on all my holy mountain. For the earth has been filled with the knowledge of the Lord, like the waters covering the sea.

10In that day, the root of Jesse, who stands as a sign among the people, the same the Gentiles shall beseech, and his sepulcher will be glorious.

11And this shall be in that day: the Lord will send forth his hand a second time to take possession of the remnant of his people who will be left behind: from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Ethiopia, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.

12And he will lift up a sign to the nations, and he will gather together the fugitives of Israel, and he will collect the dispersed of Judah from the four regions of the earth.

13And the envy of Ephraim will be taken away, and the enemies of Judah will perish. Ephraim will not be a rival to Judah, and Judah will not fight against Ephraim.

14And they will fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines through the sea; together they will plunder the sons of the east. Idumea and Moab will be under the rule of their hand, and the sons of Ammon will be obedient.

15And the Lord will desolate the tongue of the sea of Egypt. And he will lift up his hand over the river, with the strength of his Spirit; and he will strike it, in its seven streams, so that they may cross through it in their shoes.

16And there will be a way for the remnant of my people, who will be left behind by the Assyrians: just as there was for Israel in the day that he ascended from the land of Egypt.