Isaiah 11–13

Reign of the Davidic King

11Then a shoot will grow from the stump of Jesse, ^d

and a branch ^efrom his roots will bear fruit.

²The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him ^f—

a Spirit of wisdom and understanding,

a Spirit of counsel and strength,

a Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.

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

He will not judge

by what He sees with His eyes, ^g

He will not execute justice

by what He hears with His ears,

⁴but He will judge the poor righteously ^h

and execute justice for the oppressed of the land.

He will strike the land

with discipline ⁱfrom His mouth, ^j

and He will kill the wicked ^k

with a command ^lfrom His lips. ^m

⁵Righteousness will be a belt around His loins; ⁿ

faithfulness will be a belt around His waist. ^o

⁶The wolf will live with the lamb, ^p

and the leopard will lie down with the goat.

The calf, the young lion, and the fatling will be together,

and a child will lead them.

⁷The cow and the bear will graze,

their young ones will lie down together,

and the lion will eat straw like the ox.

⁸An infant will play beside the cobra’s pit,

and a toddler will put his hand into a snake’s den.

⁹None will harm or destroy another

on My entire holy mountain,

for the land will be as full

of the knowledge of the Lord

as the sea is filled with water. ^q

Israel Regathered

¹⁰On that day the root of Jesse ^r

will stand as a banner for the peoples. ^s

The nations will seek Him, ^t

and His resting place will be glorious. ^u

¹¹On that day ^vthe Lord will extend His hand a second time to recover—from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, and the coasts and islands of the west—the remnant of His people who survive. ^w

¹²He will lift up a banner for the nations

and gather the dispersed of Israel; ^x

He will collect the scattered of Judah

from the four corners of the earth. ^y

¹³Ephraim’s envy will cease; ^z

Judah’s harassment will end.

Ephraim will no longer be envious of Judah,

and Judah will not harass Ephraim.

¹⁴But they will swoop down

on the Philistine flank to the west.

Together they will plunder the people of the east. ^a

They will extend their power over Edom and Moab,

and the Ammonites will be their subjects. ^b

¹⁵The Lord will divide ^cdthe Gulf of Suez. ^e

He will wave His hand over the Euphrates

with His mighty wind ^f

and will split it into seven streams,

letting people walk through on foot.

¹⁶There will be a highway for the remnant of His people

who will survive from Assyria, ^g

as there was for Israel

when they came up from the land of Egypt. ^h

A Song of Praise

12On that day you will say:

“I will praise You, Lord,

although You were angry with me.

Your anger has turned away,

and You have had compassion ⁱon me.

²Indeed, God is my salvation;

I will trust Him and not be afraid,

for Yah, the Lord,

is my strength and my song.

He has become my salvation.” ^j

³You will joyfully draw water ^k

from the springs of salvation,

⁴and on that day you will say:

“Give thanks to Yahweh; proclaim His name!

Celebrate His works among the peoples. ^l

Declare that His name is exalted.

⁵Sing to Yahweh, for He has done glorious things. ^m

Let this be known throughout the earth.

⁶Cry out and sing, citizen of Zion,

for the Holy One of Israel ⁿis among you

in His greatness.”

An Oracle against Babylon

13An oracle ^oagainst Babylon ^pthat Isaiah son of Amoz saw:

²Lift up a banner on a barren mountain. ^q

Call out to them.

Wave your hand, and they will go

through the gates of the nobles.

³I have commanded My chosen ones;

I have also called My warriors,

who exult in My triumph,

to execute My wrath. ^r

⁴Listen, a tumult on the mountains,

like that of a mighty people!

Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms,

like nations being gathered together!

The Lord of Hosts is mobilizing an army for war.

⁵They are coming from a far land,

from the distant horizon—

the Lord and the weapons of His wrath—

to destroy the whole country. ^s

⁶Wail! For the day of the Lord is near. ^t

It will come like destruction from the Almighty. ^u

⁷Therefore everyone’s hands will become weak,

and every man’s heart will melt.

⁸They will be horrified;

pain and agony will seize them;

they will be in anguish like a woman in labor. ^v

They will look at each other,

their faces flushed with fear.

⁹Look, the day ^wof the Lord is coming—

cruel, with rage and burning anger—

to make the earth a desolation

and to destroy the sinners on it. ^x

¹⁰Indeed, the stars of the sky and its constellations ^y

will not give their light.

The sun will be dark when it rises,

and the moon will not shine. ^z

¹¹I will bring disaster on the world,

and their own iniquity, ^aon the wicked.

I will put an end to the pride of the arrogant ^b

and humiliate the insolence of tyrants.

¹²I will make man scarcer than gold,

and mankind more rare than the gold of Ophir. ^c

¹³Therefore I will make the heavens tremble,

and the earth will shake from its foundations ^d

at the wrath of the Lord of Hosts,

on the day of His burning anger.

¹⁴Like wandering gazelles

and like sheep without a shepherd, ^e

each one will turn to his own people,

each one will flee to his own land.

¹⁵Whoever is found will be stabbed,

and whoever is caught will die by the sword.

¹⁶Their children will be smashed to death before their eyes; ^f

their houses will be looted,

and their wives raped.

¹⁷Look! I am stirring up the Medes against them, ^g

who cannot be bought off with ^hsilver

and who have no desire for gold.

¹⁸Their bows will cut young men to pieces.

They will have no compassion on little ones;

they will not look with pity on children.

¹⁹And Babylon, the jewel of the kingdoms,

the glory of the pride of the Chaldeans,

will be like Sodom and Gomorrah

when God overthrew them. ⁱ

²⁰It will never be inhabited

or lived in from generation to generation; ^j

a nomad will not pitch his tent there,

and shepherds will not let their flocks rest there.

²¹But desert creatures will lie down there,

and owls will fill the houses.

Ostriches will dwell there,

and wild goats will leap about. ^k

²²Hyenas will howl in the fortresses,

and jackals, in the luxurious palaces.

Babylon’s time is almost up;

her days are almost over.