Isaiah 11-13

Complete Jewish Bible

11 But a branch will emerge from the trunk of Yishai,
a shoot will grow from his roots.
² The Spirit of Adonai will rest on him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and power,
the Spirit of knowledge and fearing Adonai —
³ he will be inspired by fearing Adonai.
He will not judge by what his eyes see
or decide by what his ears hear,
⁴ but he will judge the impoverished justly;
he will decide fairly for the humble of the land.
He will strike the land with a rod from his mouth
and slay the wicked with a breath from his lips.
⁵ Justice will be the belt around his waist,
faithfulness the sash around his hips.

⁶ The wolf will live with the lamb;
the leopard lie down with the kid;
calf, young lion and fattened lamb together,
with a little child to lead them.
⁷ Cow and bear will feed together,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
⁸ An infant will play on a cobra’s hole,
a toddler put his hand in a viper’s nest.
⁹ They will not hurt or destroy
anywhere on my holy mountain,
for the earth will be as full
of the knowledge of Adonai
as water covering the sea.

¹⁰ On that day the root of Yishai,
which stands as a banner for the peoples —
the Goyim will seek him out,
and the place where he rests will be glorious.
¹¹ On that day Adonai will raise his hand
again, a second time,
to reclaim the remnant of his people who remain
from Ashur, Egypt, Patros,
Ethiopia, ‘Eilam, Shin‘ar,
Hamat and the islands in the sea.
¹² He will hoist a banner for the Goyim,
assemble the dispersed of Isra’el,
and gather the scattered of Y’hudah
from the four corners of the earth.
¹³ Efrayim’s jealousy will cease —
those who harass Y’hudah will be cut off,
Efrayim will stop envying Y’hudah,
and Y’hudah will stop provoking Efrayim.
¹⁴ They will swoop down on the flank of the P’lishtim to the west.
Together they will pillage the people to the east —
they will put out their hand over Edom and Mo’av,
and the people of ‘Amon will obey them.
¹⁵ Adonai will dry up the gulf
of the Egyptian Sea.
He will shake his hand over the [Euphrates] River
to bring a scorching wind,
dividing it into seven streams
and enabling people to cross dryshod.
¹⁶ There will be a highway for the remnant of his people
who are still left from Ashur,
just as there was for Isra’el
when he came out from the land of Egypt.

12 On that day you will say:

“I thank you, Adonai,
because, although you were angry at me,
your anger is now turned away;
and you are comforting me.

² “See! God is my salvation.
I am confident and unafraid;
for Yah Adonai is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation!”

³ Then you will joyfully draw water
from the springs of salvation.
⁴ On that day you will say,
“Give thanks to Adonai! Call on his name!
Make his deeds known among the peoples,
declare how exalted is his name.
⁵ Sing to Adonai, for he has triumphed —
this is being made known throughout the earth.
⁶ Shout and sing for joy,
you who live in Tziyon;
for the Holy One of Isra’el
is with you in his greatness!”

² Hoist a banner on a high mountain,
shout to [the invaders];
beckon them to enter the Nobles’ Gate.
³ “I have ordered my holy ones,
summoned my heroes, eager and bold,
to execute my anger.”
⁴ Listen! A tumult on the mountains —
it sounds like a vast multitude!
Listen! The uproar of the kingdoms
of the nations gathering together!
Adonai-Tzva’ot is mustering
an army for war.
⁵ They come from a distant land,
from beyond the horizon.
It’s Adonai, with the weapons of his rage,
to lay waste to all the earth.
⁶ Howl! for the Day of Adonai is at hand,
destruction coming from Shaddai.
⁷ This is why every arm will hang limp
and everyone’s courage melt away.
⁸ They will be gripped by panic,
seized with pain and agony,
writhing like a woman in labor,
looking aghast at each other, faces aflame.
⁹ Here comes the Day of Adonai,
full of cruelty, rage and hot fury,
to desolate the earth
and destroy the sinners in it.
¹⁰ For the stars, the constellations in the sky,
will no longer give their light;
the sun will be dark when it rises;
and the moon will no longer shine.

¹¹ “I will punish the world for its evil
and the wicked for their iniquity.
I will end the arrogance of the proud
and humble the insolence of tyrants.
¹² I will make humans rarer than gold,
scarcer than Ofir’s pure gold.
¹³ This is why I will make the heavens tremble,
and the earth will be shaken from its place
at the wrath of Adonai-Tzva’ot
on the day of his fierce anger.
¹⁴ Then, like a hunted gazelle,
like sheep with no one to gather them,
everyone will head back to his own people;
everyone will flee to his own land.
¹⁵ Anyone found will be pierced through;
anyone caught will fall by the sword,
¹⁶ their babies dashed to pieces before their eyes,
their houses looted, their wives raped.
¹⁷ I will stir up against them the Medes,
who cannot be tempted by silver
or bought off with gold.
¹⁸ Their bows will tear young men to pieces,
they will have no pity on the fruit of the womb,
their eye will not spare children.”

¹⁹ Thus Bavel, that jewel of kingdoms,
the pride and glory of the Kasdim,
will be like S’dom and ‘Amora
when overthrown by God.
²⁰ It will never again be inhabited,
never lived in through all generations.
Arabs will not pitch tents there
nor shepherds bring their flocks.
²¹ But wildcats will lie there,
their houses will be full of owls,
ostriches will live there,
and wild goats will dance there.
²² Jackals will howl in their palaces
and wild dogs in their temples of delight.
Its time is close at hand,
its days will not last long.