1 Then a shoot will come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from its roots will bear fruit. 2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him- the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of advice and power, the Spirit of knowledge and fear of the LORD. 3 He will gladly bear the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what his eyes see or decide by what his ears hear. 4 He will judge the poor justly. He will make fair decisions for the humble people on earth. He will strike the earth with a rod from his mouth. He will kill the wicked with the breath from his lips. 5 Justice will be the belt around his waist. Faithfulness will be the belt around his hips. 6 Wolves will live with lambs. Leopards will lie down with goats. Calves, young lions, and year-old lambs will be together, and little children will lead them. 7 Cows and bears will eat together. Their young will lie down together. Lions will eat straw like oxen. 8 Infants will play near cobras' holes. Toddlers will put their hands into vipers' nests. 9 They will not hurt or destroy anyone anywhere on my holy mountain. The world will be filled with the knowledge of the LORD like water covering the sea. 10 At that time the root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the people to gather around. The nations will come to him. His resting place will be glorious. 11 At that time the Lord will use his power again to recover what remains of his people in Assyria, Upper and Lower Egypt, Sudan, Elam, Babylonia, Hamath, and the islands of the sea. 12 He will raise a banner for the nations to gather around. He will gather the outcasts of Israel and bring together the scattered people of Judah from the four corners of the earth. 13 Ephraim's jealousy will vanish, and Judah's opponents will come to an end. Ephraim won't be jealous of Judah, and Judah won't oppose Ephraim. 14 They will swoop down on the slopes of Philistia in the west. Together they will loot the people of the east. They will conquer Edom and Moab. The people of Ammon will be subject to them. 15 The LORD will dry up the gulf of the Egyptian Sea. He will wave his hand over the Euphrates River with his scorching wind and divide it into seven streams so that people can walk over it in their sandals. 16 There will be a highway for the remaining few of his people left in Assyria like there was for Israel when it came out of Egypt. GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Quotations are used by permission. Copyright 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved. | |