Peace through the One from the Family of Jesse

11 Then One will come from the family of Jesse. A branch will grow out of his roots. ² And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of wise words and strength, the spirit of much learning and the fear of the Lord. ³ He will be glad in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what His eyes see, or decide by what His ears hear. ⁴ But He will judge the poor in a right and good way. He will be fair in what He decides for the people of the earth who have much trouble. He will punish the earth with His powerful mouth, and kill the sinful with the breath of His lips. ⁵ He will wear a belt of what is right and good and faithful around His body.

⁶ The wolf will live with the lamb. The leopard will lie down with the baby goat. The calf and the young lion and the young fat animal will lie down together. And a little boy will lead them. ⁷ The cow and the bear will eat side by side. And their young will lie down together. The lion will eat straw like the ox. ⁸ The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra. And another child will put his hand in the hole of a snake whose bite is poison. ⁹ They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain. For the earth will be as full of much learning from the Lord as the seas are full of water.

The People of Israel and Judah Return

¹⁰ In that day the nations will turn to the One from the family of Jesse. He will be honored by the people as someone special to see. And His place of rest will be full of His shining-greatness. ¹¹ In that day the Lord will put out His hand a second time to bring back His people who are left. He will bring them back from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. ¹² He will lift up flags for the nations, and will gather together the people of Israel and of Judah who had been sent away. He will bring them back from the four corners of the earth. ¹³ Ephraim will not be jealous. Those who made it hard for Judah will be cut off. Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah, and Judah will not make it hard for Ephraim. ¹⁴ But they will go down against the Philistines in the west. Together they will take what belongs to the sons of the east. They will go against Edom and Moab. And they will rule the sons of Ammon. ¹⁵ The Lord will dry up all the tongue of the Sea of Egypt. He will wave His hand over the Euphrates River with His burning wind, and will break it into seven rivers. Men will be able to walk over it with dry feet. ¹⁶ And there will be a road from Assyria for those of His people who will be left just as it was for Israel when they came up from the land of Egypt.

A Song of Thanks

12 You will say on that day, “I will give thanks to You, O Lord. Even though You were angry with me, Your anger is turned away and You comfort me. ² See, God saves me. I will trust and not be afraid. For the Lord God is my strength and song. And He has become the One Who saves me.” ³ As water from a well brings joy to the thirsty, so people have joy when He saves them. ⁴ In that day you will say, “Give thanks to the Lord. Call on His name. Make known His works among the people. Help them remember that His name is honored.” ⁵ Sing praises to the Lord, for He has done great things. Let this be known in all the earth. ⁶ Call out and sing for joy, O people of Zion. For the Holy One of Israel is great among you.

Babylon Will Be Punished

13 The special word about Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw: ² Lift up a flag on the hill without trees. Call out to the people. Wave the hand for them to go into the gates of the princes. ³ I have told My holy ones, and My powerful soldiers who take pride in their strength, to carry out My anger. ⁴ Listen to the noise on the mountains, like that of many people! Listen to the loud sound of the many people, of nations gathered together! The Lord of All is gathering an army for battle. ⁵ They are coming from a far country, from the end of the heavens. The Lord and all He is using to show His anger are coming to destroy the whole land. ⁶ Cry out in sorrow, for the day of the Lord is near! It will come as a destroying power from the All-powerful. ⁷ So all hands will become weak, and every man’s heart will melt. ⁸ They will be filled with fear. Pain and suffering will take hold of them. They will suffer like a woman giving birth. They will look surprised at one another, their faces burning. ⁹ See, the day of the Lord is coming, without pity and with much anger. He is coming to destroy the land and its sinners from it. ¹⁰ The stars of heaven and every group of stars will not give out their light. The sun will be dark when it comes up, and the moon will not give its light. ¹¹ This is how I will punish the world for its sin, and the sinful for their wrong-doing. I will also put an end to those who are proud. And I will put to shame those who make it hard for others and show no pity. ¹² I will make men so few that they will be of more worth than pure gold, even the gold of Ophir. ¹³ I will make the heavens shake. And the earth will be shaken from its place with the anger of the Lord of All in the day of His burning anger. ¹⁴ Every man will turn to his own people and run to his own land like a hunted gazelle or like sheep with no shepherd. ¹⁵ Anyone who is found will have a spear put through him. And anyone who is caught will fall by the sword. ¹⁶ Their little ones will be broken in pieces in front of their eyes. Their things will be taken from their houses. And their wives will be carried away.

¹⁷ See, I am going to make the Medes go against them, who will not want silver or be happy with gold. ¹⁸ Their bows will cut down the young men. They will have no pity on babies. Their eyes will not pity children. ¹⁹ And Babylon, the beauty of nations, the shining-greatness and pride of the Babylonians, will be as when God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. ²⁰ People will never live in it again, even all the people-to-come. No Arab will set up his tent there. No shepherds will make their flocks lie down there. ²¹ But wild animals of the desert will lie down there. Their houses will be full of owls. Ostriches will live there, and wild goats will play there. ²² Hyenas will make noise in their strong towers, and wild dogs in their beautiful houses. The end of her time is near. Her days will be few.