Isaiah 11–13

The Branch From Jesse

11A shoot^v will come up from the stump^w of Jesse;^x

from his roots a Branch^y will bear fruit.^z

²The Spirit^a of the Lord will rest on him—

the Spirit of wisdom^b and of understanding,

the Spirit of counsel and of might,^c

the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—

³and he will delight in the fear^d of the Lord.

He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,^e

or decide by what he hears with his ears;^f

⁴but with righteousness^g he will judge the needy,^h

with justiceⁱ he will give decisions for the poor^j of the earth.

He will strike^k the earth with the rod of his mouth;^l

with the breath^m of his lips he will slay the wicked.ⁿ

⁵Righteousness will be his belt^o

and faithfulness^p the sash around his waist.^q

⁶The wolf will live with the lamb,^r

the leopard will lie down with the goat,

the calf and the lion and the yearling^a together;

and a little child will lead them.

⁷The cow will feed with the bear,

their young will lie down together,

and the lion will eat straw like the ox.^s

⁸The infant^t will play near the cobra’s den,

the young child will put its hand into the viper’s^u nest.

⁹They will neither harm nor destroy^v

on all my holy mountain,^w

for the earth^x will be filled with the knowledge^y of the Lord

as the waters cover the sea.

¹⁰In that day^z the Root of Jesse^a will stand as a banner^b for the peoples; the nations^c will rally to him,^d and his resting place^e will be glorious.^{f 11}In that day^g the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the surviving remnant^h of his people from Assyria,ⁱ from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt,^j from Cush,^bk from Elam,^l from Babylonia,^c from Hamath^m and from the islandsⁿ of the Mediterranean.^o

¹²He will raise a banner^p for the nations

and gather^q the exiles of Israel;^r

he will assemble the scattered people^s of Judah

from the four quarters of the earth.^t

¹³Ephraim’s jealousy will vanish,

and Judah’s enemies^d will be destroyed;

Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah,

nor Judah hostile toward Ephraim.^u

¹⁴They will swoop down on the slopes of Philistia^v to the west;

together they will plunder the people to the east.^w

They will subdue Edom^x and Moab,^y

and the Ammonites^z will be subject to them.^a

¹⁵The Lord will dry up^b

the gulf of the Egyptian sea;

with a scorching wind^c he will sweep his hand^d

over the Euphrates River.^e

He will break it up into seven streams

so that anyone can cross over in sandals.^f

¹⁶There will be a highway^g for the remnant^h of his people

that is left from Assyria,ⁱ

as there was for Israel

when they came up from Egypt.^j

Songs of Praise

12In that day^k you will say:

“I will praise^l you, Lord.

Although you were angry with me,

your anger has turned away^m

and you have comfortedⁿ me.

²Surely God is my salvation;^o

I will trust^p and not be afraid.

The Lord, the Lord himself,^q is my strength^r and my defense^a;

he has become my salvation.^s”

³With joy you will draw water^t

from the wells^u of salvation.

⁴In that day^v you will say:

“Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name;^w

make known among the nations^x what he has done,

and proclaim that his name is exalted.^y

⁵Sing^z to the Lord, for he has done glorious things;^a

let this be known to all the world.

⁶Shout aloud and sing for joy,^b people of Zion,

for great^c is the Holy One of Israel^d among you.^e”

A Prophecy Against Babylon

13A prophecy^f against Babylon^g that Isaiah son of Amoz^h saw:ⁱ

²Raise a banner^j on a bare hilltop,

shout to them;

beckon to them

to enter the gates^k of the nobles.

³I have commanded those I prepared for battle;

I have summoned my warriors^l to carry out my wrath^m—

those who rejoiceⁿ in my triumph.

⁴Listen, a noise on the mountains,

like that of a great multitude!^o

Listen, an uproar^p among the kingdoms,

like nations massing together!

The Lord Almighty^q is mustering^r

an army for war.

⁵They come from faraway lands,

from the ends of the heavens^s—

the Lord and the weapons^t of his wrath^u—

to destroy^v the whole country.

⁶Wail,^w for the day^x of the Lord is near;

it will come like destruction^y from the Almighty.^az

⁷Because of this, all hands will go limp,^a

every heart will melt with fear.^b

⁸Terror^c will seize them,

pain and anguish will grip^d them;

they will writhe like a woman in labor.^e

They will look aghast at each other,

their faces aflame.^f

⁹See, the day^g of the Lord is coming

—a cruel^h day, with wrathⁱ and fierce anger^j—

to make the land desolate

and destroy the sinners within it.

¹⁰The stars of heaven and their constellations

will not show their light.^k

The rising sun^l will be darkened^m

and the moon will not give its light.ⁿ

¹¹I will punish^o the world for its evil,

the wicked^p for their sins.

I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty^q

and will humble^r the pride of the ruthless.^s

¹²I will make people^t scarcer than pure gold,

more rare than the gold of Ophir.^u

¹³Therefore I will make the heavens tremble;^v

and the earth will shake^w from its place

at the wrath^x of the Lord Almighty,

in the day of his burning anger.^y

¹⁴Like a hunted^z gazelle,

like sheep without a shepherd,^a

they will all return to their own people,

they will flee^b to their native land.^c

¹⁵Whoever is captured will be thrust through;

all who are caught will fall^d by the sword.^e

¹⁶Their infants^f will be dashed to pieces before their eyes;

their houses will be looted and their wives violated.^g

¹⁷See, I will stir up^h against them the Medes,ⁱ

who do not care for silver

and have no delight in gold.^j

¹⁸Their bows^k will strike down the young men;^l

they will have no mercy^m on infants,

nor will they look with compassion on children.ⁿ

¹⁹Babylon,^o the jewel of kingdoms,^p

the pride and glory^q of the Babylonians,^b

will be overthrown^r by God

like Sodom and Gomorrah.^s

²⁰She will never be inhabited^t

or lived in through all generations;

there no nomads^u will pitch their tents,

there no shepherds will rest their flocks.

²¹But desert creatures^v will lie there,

jackals^w will fill her houses;

there the owls^x will dwell,

and there the wild goats^y will leap about.

²²Hyenas^z will inhabit her strongholds,^a

jackals^b her luxurious palaces.

Her time is at hand,^c

and her days will not be prolonged.^d