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11. Branch From Jesse

¹ A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
   from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
² The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—
   the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
   the Spirit of counsel and of might,
   the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the LORD—
³ and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.

   He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
   or decide by what he hears with his ears;
⁴ but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
   with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
   with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
⁵ Righteousness will be his belt
   and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

    ⁶ The wolf will live with the lamb,
   the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling Hebrew; Septuagint lion will feed together;
   and a little child will lead them.
⁷ The cow will feed with the bear,
   their young will lie down together,
   and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
⁸ The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
   the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
⁹ They will neither harm nor destroy
   on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the LORD
   as the waters cover the sea.

¹⁰ In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious. ¹¹ In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the surviving remnant of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, That is, the upper Nile region from Elam, from Babylonia, Hebrew Shinar from Hamath and from the islands of the Mediterranean.

    ¹² He will raise a banner for the nations
   and gather the exiles of Israel;
he will assemble the scattered people of Judah
   from the four quarters of the earth.
¹³ Ephraim’s jealousy will vanish,
   and Judah’s enemies Or hostility will be destroyed;
Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah,
   nor Judah hostile toward Ephraim.
¹⁴ They will swoop down on the slopes of Philistia to the west;
   together they will plunder the people to the east.
They will subdue Edom and Moab,
   and the Ammonites will be subject to them.
¹⁵ The LORD will dry up
   the gulf of the Egyptian sea;
with a scorching wind he will sweep his hand
   over the Euphrates River.
He will break it up into seven streams
   so that anyone can cross over in sandals.
¹⁶ There will be a highway for the remnant of his people
   that is left from Assyria,
as there was for Israel
   when they came up from Egypt.

16. And there shall be a path. ¹⁹²¹⁹² An highway. — Eng. Ver. This verse contains nothing new, but explains the former verse. The people would perceive the same power of God in the deliverance from Babylon as they had perceived in the deliverance from Egypt. He had opened up a way through seas, (Exodus 14:29; Psalm 77:19,) through untrodden deserts, (Deuteronomy 8:2, 29:5,) and through Jordan; (Joshua 3:16, 17.) In like manner, Isaiah says, that by an unexpected and astonishing method he will again open up a way for his people to go out. Accordingly, what the Lord has once performed let us also expect for the future; and for that purpose let us ponder the ancient histories. This ought also to direct our thoughts to the final deliverance of the Church, by which we shall all be delivered from all troubles and distresses; so that, though what we are told about a resurrection and immortal life may appear to be incredible, and the means of accomplishing them are not seen by us, still the Lord will easily find a way.