The King of Peace Is Coming
11 A ·new branch [sprout; shoot; C the Messiah] will grow
from the stump of Jesse [C king David’s father; the Messiah will restore David’s royal line];
a branch will ·come [sprout; or bear fruit]
from his roots.
2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest upon him [1 Sam. 16:13; Matt. 3:16].
The Spirit will give him wisdom and understanding, ·guidance [counsel] and power.
The Spirit ·will teach him to know [L of knowledge] and ·respect [the fear of] the Lord.
3 ·This king will be glad to [L He will gladly/with delight] ·obey [revere; fear] the Lord.
He will not judge by ·the way things look [appearances; L the vision of his eyes]
or decide by ·what he hears [L the hearing of his ears].
4 But he will judge the poor ·honestly [with justice/righteousness];
he will be ·fair [upright; just; fair] in his decisions for the ·poor [oppressed; meek] people of the ·land [or earth].
·At his command evil people will be punished [L He will strike the earth with the rod/scepter of his mouth],
and by ·his words the wicked will be put to death [L the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked].
5 ·Goodness [Righteousness; Justice] will be like a belt around his waist,
and ·fairness [faithfulness; integrity] like a belt around his ·hips [waist; T loins].
6 The wolf will ·live in peace [L live; dwell] with the lamb,
and the leopard will ·lie down to rest [L lie down] with the young goat [C peace within the animal kingdom symbolizes the restoration of creation; 65:25].
Calves, lions, and ·young bulls [or fattened calves; L fatling] will ·eat [or be] together,
and a little child will lead them.
7 Cows and bears will ·eat [graze] together in peace.
Their young will lie down to rest together.
Lions will eat ·hay [straw] as oxen do.
8 A ·baby [nursing infant] will ·be able to play [L play] near a cobra’s hole,
and a child will ·be able to put [L put] his hand into the nest of a ·poisonous snake [adder; viper].
9 They will not hurt or destroy each other
on all my holy mountain,
because the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord,
as the ·sea is full of water [L waters cover the sea].
10 At that time the ·new king from the family [L root; v. 1] of Jesse will stand as a ·banner [standard; signal flag] for all ·peoples [nations]. The ·nations [Gentiles] will ·come together around [rally to; or seek guidance from] him, and ·the place where he lives [T his resting place] will be filled with glory. 11 ·At that time [L In that day] the Lord will ·again [L again a second time; C the first time was the Exodus from Egypt] ·reach out and take [L reclaim/acquire with his hand the remnant of] his people who ·are left alive [remain] in Assyria, North Egypt, ·South Egypt [L Pathros], Cush, Elam, ·Babylonia [L Shinar], Hamath, and all the ·islands [or coastlands] of the sea.
12 God will raise a ·banner as a sign [standard; signal flag] for all nations,
and he will gather the ·people of Israel who were forced from their country [L exiles/banished ones of Israel].
He will gather the scattered people of Judah
from ·all parts [L the four corners/edges] of the earth.
13 At that time ·Israel [L Ephraim; C the most influential tribe of the northern kingdom of Israel] will not be jealous anymore,
and ·Judah will have no more enemies [or Judah’s hostility will end].
·Israel [L Ephraim] will not be jealous of Judah,
and Judah will not ·hate [harrass; be hostile towards] Israel.
14 But Israel and Judah will ·attack [L swoop down on the hills/or shoulders of] the Philistines on the west.
Together they will ·take the riches from [plunder; loot] the ·people [L sons] of the east.
They will ·conquer [L send their hand against] Edom and Moab,
and the ·people [L sons; children] of Ammon will be ·under their control [subject/obedient to them].
15 The Lord will ·dry up [or utterly destroy]
the ·Red Sea of Egypt [L tongue/gulf of the Egyptian sea].
He will wave his ·arm [or hand] over the ·Euphrates River [L River]
·and dry it up with a scorching wind [L with a scorching wind/breath].
He will ·divide [strike; break] it into seven small rivers
so that people can walk across them with their sandals on.
16 So ·God’s people who are left alive [L the remnant of his people who remain]
will have a ·way to leave [highway from] Assyria,
just like the time the Israelites
came out of Egypt [C a new and greater Exodus].