The Reign of the Davidic King

1“A shoot will come out

from the stump of Jesse,

and a branch will bear fruit

from his roots.

2The Spirit of the LORD will rest upon him,

the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,

the Spirit of counsel and power,

the Spirit of knowledge and fear of the LORD.

3His delight will be in the fear of the LORD.

He won’t judge by what his eyes see,

nor decide disputes by what his ears hear,

4but with righteousness he will judge the needy,

and decide with equity fora earth’s poor.b

He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,c

and the wicked will be killedd with the breath of his lips.

5Righteousness will be the sash around his loins,

and faithfulness the belt around his waist.”

A Transformed Ecology

6“The wolf will live with the lamb;

the leopard will lie down with the young goat.

The calf and the lion will grazee together,

and a little child will lead them.

7The cow and the bear will graze,

andf their young will lie down together,

and the lion will eat straw like the ox.

8The nursing child will play

over the hole of the cobra,

and the weaned child will put his hand on vipers’ dens.g

9They will neither harm nor destroy

onh my holy mountain;

for the earth will be full

of the knowledgei of the LORD,j

as the waters cover the sea.”

Israel Regathered

10At that time,k as tol the root of Jesse, who will be standing as a banner for the peoples, the nations will rally to him, and his resting place ism glorious.

11At that time,n the LORD will reach out his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that is left of his people, from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt,o from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the islandsp of the sea.

12He will raise a banner for the nations

and will assemble the dispersed of Israel;

he will gather the scattered people of Judah

from the cornersq of the earth.

Israel’s Victory over Its Enemies

13Ephraim’s jealousy will vanish,r

and those who are hostile to Judah will be eliminated;s

Ephraim will no longer be jealous of Judah,

and Judah will not be hostile to Ephraim.

14But theyt will swoop down

on the slopesu of the Philistines to the west,

and they will plunderv the people tow the east.

They’ll lay their hands on Edom and Moab,

and the Ammonites will be subject to them.

15The LORD will totally destroy

the gulfx of the Sea of Egypt.

He will sweep his hand

over the Euphrates River

with a violent wind,y

breaking it up into seven streams,

and making a way for people to cross on foot.

16And there will be a highway

for the remnant that is left of his people out of Assyria,

as there was for Israel

when they came up

from the land of Egypt.