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Isaiah 11
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Isaiah 11
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 11[a]
The Ideal Davidic King[b]
1 But a shoot shall sprout from the stump[c] of Jesse,
and from his roots a bud shall blossom.(A)
2 [d]The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him:(B)
a spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
A spirit of counsel and of strength,
a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the Lord,
3 and his delight shall be the fear of the Lord.
Not by appearance shall he judge,
nor by hearsay shall he decide,
4 But he shall judge the poor with justice,
and decide fairly for the land’s afflicted.(C)
He shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.(D)
5 Justice shall be the band around his waist,
and faithfulness a belt upon his hips.(E)
6 [e]Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat;
The calf and the young lion shall browse together,
with a little child to guide them.(F)
7 The cow and the bear shall graze,
together their young shall lie down;
the lion shall eat hay like the ox.(G)
8 The baby shall play by the viper’s den,
and the child lay his hand on the adder’s lair.
9 They shall not harm or destroy on all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the Lord,
as water covers the sea.
Restoration[f]
10 On that day,
The root of Jesse,
set up as a signal for the peoples—
Him the nations will seek out;
his dwelling shall be glorious.(H)
11 On that day,
The Lord shall again take it in hand
to reclaim the remnant of his people
that is left from Assyria and Egypt,
Pathros, Ethiopia, and Elam,
Shinar, Hamath, and the isles of the sea.(I)
12 He shall raise a signal to the nations(J)
and gather the outcasts of Israel;
The dispersed of Judah he shall assemble
from the four corners of the earth.
13 The envy of Ephraim shall pass away,
and those hostile to Judah shall be cut off;
Ephraim shall not envy Judah,
and Judah shall not be hostile to Ephraim;
14 But they shall swoop down on the foothills
of the Philistines to the west,
together they shall plunder the people of the east;[g]
Edom and Moab shall be their possessions,
and the Ammonites their subjects.
15 The Lord shall dry up the tongue[h] of the Sea of Egypt,
and wave his hand over the Euphrates with his fierce wind,
And divide it into seven streamlets,
so that it can be crossed in sandals.(K)
16 There shall be a highway for the remnant of his people
that is left from Assyria,
As there was for Israel
when it came up from the land of Egypt.(L)
Footnotes
- 11:1–16 Isaiah 11 contains a prophecy of the rise of a new Davidic king who will embody the ancient ideal of Davidic kingship (vv. 1–9), an elaboration of that prophecy in a further description of that king’s rule (v. 10), and a prophecy of God’s deliverance of the chosen people from exile and cessation of enmities (vv. 11–16).
- 11:1–9 (10) Here Isaiah looks forward to a new Davidide who will realize the ancient ideals (see Ps 72). The oracle does not seem to have a particular historical person in mind.
- 11:1 Shoot…stump: the imagery suggests the bankruptcy of the monarchy as embodied in the historical kings, along with the need for a new beginning, to spring from the very origin from which David and his dynasty arose. Jesse: David’s father (cf. 1 Sm 16:1–13).
- 11:2–3 The source of the traditional names of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The Septuagint and the Vulgate read “piety” for “fear of the Lord” in its first occurrence, thus listing seven gifts.
- 11:6–9 This picture of the idyllic harmony of paradise is a dramatic symbol of universal peace and justice under the rule of the new Davidic king. The peace and harmony even among carnivores and their natural prey in this description suggest a paradisiac aspect of the reign of the new king.
- 11:10–16 This passage, with its reference to God’s people in widely scattered lands, is probably from a much later period. God will restore them to their own land. The reconciliation of Ephraim (i.e., the Northern Kingdom) and Judah reverses what Isaiah saw as a disastrous event of the past (cf. 7:17). God’s action is likened to a new exodus, analogous to the time God first acquired Israel in bringing them out of the land of Egypt. Pathros: upper Egypt. Elam: east of Babylonia. Shinar: Babylonia. Hamath: on the Orontes River in Syria. Isles: or coastlands, in the Mediterranean.
- 11:14 People of the east: tribes in the Arabian Desert (cf. Jgs 6:3, 33; 7:12).
- 11:15 Tongue: perhaps to be identified with the Gulf of Suez.
Isaiah 11
New International Version
Isaiah 11
New International Version
The Branch From Jesse
11 A shoot(A) will come up from the stump(B) of Jesse;(C)
from his roots a Branch(D) will bear fruit.(E)
2 The Spirit(F) of the Lord will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom(G) and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of might,(H)
the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—
3 and he will delight in the fear(I) of the Lord.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,(J)
or decide by what he hears with his ears;(K)
4 but with righteousness(L) he will judge the needy,(M)
with justice(N) he will give decisions for the poor(O) of the earth.
He will strike(P) the earth with the rod of his mouth;(Q)
with the breath(R) of his lips he will slay the wicked.(S)
5 Righteousness will be his belt(T)
and faithfulness(U) the sash around his waist.(V)
6 The wolf will live with the lamb,(W)
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.
7 The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.(X)
8 The infant(Y) will play near the cobra’s den,
and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s(Z) nest.
9 They will neither harm nor destroy(AA)
on all my holy mountain,(AB)
for the earth(AC) will be filled with the knowledge(AD) of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
10 In that day(AE) the Root of Jesse(AF) will stand as a banner(AG) for the peoples; the nations(AH) will rally to him,(AI) and his resting place(AJ) will be glorious.(AK) 11 In that day(AL) the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the surviving remnant(AM) of his people from Assyria,(AN) from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt,(AO) from Cush,[b](AP) from Elam,(AQ) from Babylonia,[c] from Hamath(AR) and from the islands(AS) of the Mediterranean.(AT)
12 He will raise a banner(AU) for the nations
and gather(AV) the exiles of Israel;(AW)
he will assemble the scattered people(AX) of Judah
from the four quarters of the earth.(AY)
13 Ephraim’s jealousy will vanish,
and Judah’s enemies[d] will be destroyed;
Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah,
nor Judah hostile toward Ephraim.(AZ)
14 They will swoop down on the slopes of Philistia(BA) to the west;
together they will plunder the people to the east.(BB)
They will subdue Edom(BC) and Moab,(BD)
and the Ammonites(BE) will be subject to them.(BF)
15 The Lord will dry up(BG)
the gulf of the Egyptian sea;
with a scorching wind(BH) he will sweep his hand(BI)
over the Euphrates River.(BJ)
He will break it up into seven streams
so that anyone can cross over in sandals.(BK)
16 There will be a highway(BL) for the remnant(BM) of his people
that is left from Assyria,(BN)
as there was for Israel
when they came up from Egypt.(BO)
Footnotes
- Isaiah 11:6 Hebrew; Septuagint lion will feed
- Isaiah 11:11 That is, the upper Nile region
- Isaiah 11:11 Hebrew Shinar
- Isaiah 11:13 Or hostility
New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
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