1A shoot1 will come up from the stump2 of Jesse;3 from his roots a Branch4 will bear fruit.5
2The Spirit1 of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom2 and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might,3 the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—
3and he will delight in the fear1 of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,2 or decide by what he hears with his ears;3
4but with righteousness1 he will judge the needy,2 with justice3 he will give decisions for the poor4 of the earth. He will strike5 the earth with the rod of his mouth;6 with the breath7 of his lips he will slay the wicked.8
5Righteousness will be his belt1 and faithfulness2 the sash around his waist.3
6The wolf will live with the lamb,1 the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearlinga 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.1
8The infant1 will play near the cobra’s den, and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s2 nest.
9They will neither harm nor destroy1 on all my holy mountain,2 for the earth3 will be filled with the knowledge4 of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
10In that day1 the Root of Jesse2 will stand as a banner3 for the peoples; the nations4 will rally to him,5 and his resting place6 will be glorious.7
11In that day1 the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the surviving remnant2 of his people from Assyria,3 from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt,4 from Cush,a5 from Elam,6 from Babylonia,b from Hamath7 and from the islands8 of the Mediterranean.9
12He will raise a banner1 for the nations and gather2 the exiles of Israel;3 he will assemble the scattered people4 of Judah from the four quarters of the earth.5
13Ephraim’s jealousy will vanish, and Judah’s enemiesa will be destroyed; Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah, nor Judah hostile toward Ephraim.1
14They will swoop down on the slopes of Philistia1 to the west; together they will plunder the people to the east.2 They will subdue Edom3 and Moab,4 and the Ammonites5 will be subject to them.6
15The Lord will dry up1 the gulf of the Egyptian sea; with a scorching wind2 he will sweep his hand3 over the Euphrates River.4 He will break it up into seven streams so that anyone can cross over in sandals.5
16There will be a highway1 for the remnant2 of his people that is left from Assyria,3 as there was for Israel when they came up from Egypt.4