Isaiah 11

1 [Like] [MET] a [new] shoot [often] grows from the stump [of a tree], there will be a descendant of King David who will be a new king.

And there will come a rod out of the broken tree of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots will give fruit.

2 The Spirit of Yahweh will always be with him. The Spirit will enable him to be wise and to understand [much about many things]. The Spirit will enable him to decide what is good to do, and will enable him to be very powerful. The Spirit will enable him to know Yahweh and to revere him.

And the spirit of the Lord will be resting on him, the spirit of wisdom and good sense, the spirit of wise guiding and strength, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord;

3 He will be glad to obey Yahweh. He will not decide [whether someone is righteous or not only] by seeing what that person looks like, or by listening to [what others say about that person].

And he will not be guided in his judging by what he sees, or give decisions by the hearing of his ears:

4 He will judge [the cases of] needy people fairly; and he will act justly toward poor people. He will punish evil people as a result of what he decides [MTY]; he will get rid of wicked people because of [MTY] [their behavior].

But he will do right in the cause of the poor, and give wise decisions for those in the land who are in need; and the rod of his mouth will come down on the cruel, and with the breath of his lips he will put an end to the evil-doer.

5 He will always act righteously; his doing that will [accompany him like] [MET] a belt [around his waist]. He will always speak what is true; his doing that will [accompany him like] [MET] a sash [around his waist].

And righteousness will be the cord of his robe, and good faith the band round his breast.

6 [When he becomes king], wolves and lambs will live together [peacefully]; leopards, [instead of killing] baby goats, will lie down with them. [Similarly], calves and lions will eat food together; and a young child will take care of them.

And the wolf will be living with the lamb, and the leopard will take his rest with the young goat; and the lion will take grass for food like the ox; and the young lion will go with the young ones of the herd; and a little child will be their guide.

7 Cows and bears will eat [together]; bear cubs and calves will lie down together. Lions will [not eat other animals]; [instead], they will eat hay like cows do.

And the cow and the bear will be friends while their young ones are sleeping together.

8 Babies will play [safely] near the holes where cobra snakes [live]; small children will [even] put their hands into nests of poisonous snakes, [and the snakes will not harm them].

And the child at the breast will be playing by the hole of the snake, and the older child will put his hand on the bright eye of the poison-snake.

9 No creatures will harm or kill other creatures on [Zion Hill], my holy hill; and the earth will [be filled with people who] know Yahweh like [SIM] the seas are full of water.

There will be no cause of pain or destruction in all my holy mountain: for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the sea is covered by the waters.

10 At that time, a descendant of King David will [hold up] a flag to signal to the people of all people-groups [that they should gather around him]; they will come to him to get his advice, and the place where he lives will be glorious.

And in that day, the eyes of the nations will be turned to the root of Jesse which will be lifted up as the flag of the peoples; and his resting-place will be glory.

11 At that time, Yahweh will (reach out his hand/use his power) as he did long ago; he will enable those who had been (exiled from/forced to leave) Israel to return home, from Assyria, from northern Egypt, from southern Egypt, from Ethiopia, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath, and from all the distant countries near the sea.

And in that day the hand of the Lord will be stretched out the second time to get back the rest of his people, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the sea-lands.

12 Yahweh will raise his flag among [all] the people-groups, and he will gather together the people of Israel who had been exiled [long ago]. He will gather from very distant places [IDM] on the earth the people of Judah who [(had been scattered to/are living in) those places].

And he will put up a flag as a sign to the nations, and he will get together those of Israel who had been sent away, and the wandering ones of Judah, from the four ends of the earth.

13 [Then], the people of Israel and the people of Judah will not be jealous of each other [any longer], and they will no [longer] be enemies of each other.

And the envy of Ephraim will be gone, and those who make trouble for Judah will come to an end: Ephraim will have no more envy of Judah, and there will be an end of Judah's hate for Ephraim.

14 Their [armies] will [join together to] attack the people of Philistia to the west. And together they will attack nations to the east; they will [defeat those nations and] take away all their valuable possessions. They will capture [the areas of] Edom and Moab, and the people of the Ammon people-group will be controlled/ruled by the people of Israel and Judah.

And they will be united in attacking the Philistines on the west, and together they will take the goods of the children of the east: their hand will be on Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon will be under their rule.

15 Yahweh will make a dry road through the sea near Egypt. And [it will be as though] he will wave his hand over the [Euphrates] River and send a strong wind to cause it to divide into seven streams, with the result that people will be able to walk across [those streams].

And the Lord will make the tongue of the Egyptian sea completely dry; and with his burning wind his hand will be stretched out over the River, and it will be parted into seven streams, so that men may go over it with dry feet.

16 And because he will make a highway for his people who are living in Assyria, they will be able to return [to their own land], just like [long ago] he made a path for [the people of] Israel [so that they could go through the water] when they left Egypt.

And there will be a highway for the rest of his people from Assyria; as there was for Israel in the day when he came up out of the land of Egypt.