Righteous Reign of the Branch

1
Then a Shoot (the Messiah) will spring from the stock of Jesse [David’s father],
And a Branch from his roots will bear fruit.(A)
2

And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him—
The Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The Spirit of counsel and strength,
The Spirit of knowledge and of the [reverential and obedient] fear of the Lord
3

And He will delight in the fear of the Lord,
And He will not judge by what His eyes see,
Nor make decisions by what His ears hear;
4

But with righteousness and justice He will judge the poor,
And decide with fairness for the downtrodden of the earth;
And He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,
And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.
5

And righteousness will be the belt around His loins,
And faithfulness the belt around His waist.
6

And the wolf will dwell with the lamb,
And the leopard will lie down with the young goat,
And the calf and the young lion and the fatted steer together;
And a little child will lead them.
7

And the cow and the bear will graze [together],
Their young will lie down together,
And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8

And the nursing child will [safely] play over the hole of the cobra,
And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den [and not be hurt].
9

They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain,
For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
As the waters cover the sea.