Add parallel Print Page Options

See, days are coming—oracle of the Lord
    when I will raise up a righteous branch for David;
As king he shall reign and govern wisely,
    he shall do what is just and right in the land.(A)

Read full chapter

Psalm 72[a]

A Prayer for the King

Of Solomon.

I

O God, give your judgment to the king;
    your justice to the king’s son;[b](A)
That he may govern your people with justice,
    your oppressed with right judgment,(B)
That the mountains may yield their bounty for the people,
    and the hills great abundance,(C)
That he may defend the oppressed among the people,
    save the children of the poor and crush the oppressor.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 72 A royal Psalm in which the Israelite king, as the representative of God, is the instrument of divine justice (Ps 72:1–4, 12–14) and blessing (Ps 72:5–7, 15–17) for the whole world. The king is human, giving only what he has received from God. Hence intercession must be made for him. The extravagant language is typical of oriental royal courts.
  2. 72:2 The king…the king’s son: the crown prince is the king’s son; the prayer envisages the dynasty.

12 For he rescues the poor when they cry out,
    the oppressed who have no one to help.
13 He shows pity to the needy and the poor(A)
    and saves the lives of the poor.
14 From extortion and violence he redeems them,
    for precious is their blood[a] in his sight.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 72:14 Their blood: cf. Ps 116:15.

Chapter 11[a]

The Ideal Davidic King[b]

But a shoot shall sprout from the stump[c] of Jesse,
    and from his roots a bud shall blossom.(A)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 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).
  2. 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.
  3. 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).