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A wolf will reside[a] with a lamb,
and a leopard will lie down with a young goat;
an ox and a young lion will graze together,[b]
as a small child leads them along.
A cow and a bear will graze together,
their young will lie down together.[c]
A lion, like an ox, will eat straw.
A baby[d] will play
over the hole of a snake;[e]
over the nest[f] of a serpent
an infant[g] will put his hand.[h]

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 11:6 tn The verb גּוּר (gur) normally refers to living as a dependent, resident foreigner in another society.
  2. Isaiah 11:6 tc The Hebrew text reads, “and an ox, and a young lion, and a fatling together.” Since the preceding lines refer to two animals and include a verb, many emend וּמְרִיא (umeriʾ, “and the fatling”) to an otherwise unattested verb יִמְרְאוּ (yimreʾu, “they will graze”); cf. NAB, TEV, CEV. One of the Qumran copies of Isaiah confirms this suggestion (1QIsaa). The present translation assumes this change.
  3. Isaiah 11:7 tn Heb “and a cow and a bear will graze—together—they will lie down, their young.” This is a case of pivot pattern; יַחְדָּו (yakhdav, “together”) goes with both the preceding and following statements.
  4. Isaiah 11:8 tn Heb “one sucking,” i.e., still being nursed by his mother.
  5. Isaiah 11:8 tn Or perhaps, “cobra” (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NCV); KJV, ASV, NRSV “asp.”
  6. Isaiah 11:8 tc The Hebrew text has the otherwise unattested מְאוּרַת (meʾurat, “place of light”), i.e., opening of a hole. Some prefer to emend to מְעָרַת (meʿarat, “cave, den”).
  7. Isaiah 11:8 tn Heb “one who is weaned” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).
  8. Isaiah 11:8 sn The transformation of the animal kingdom depicted here typifies what will occur in human society under the just rule of the ideal king (see vv. 3-5). The categories “predator-prey” (i.e., oppressor-oppressed) will no longer exist.

The wolf will live with the lamb,(A)
    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.
The cow will feed with the bear,
    their young will lie down together,
    and the lion will eat straw like the ox.(B)
The infant(C) will play near the cobra’s den,
    and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s(D) nest.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 11:6 Hebrew; Septuagint lion will feed