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Justice will be like a belt around his waist,
integrity will be like a belt around his hips.[a]
A wolf will reside[b] with a lamb,
and a leopard will lie down with a young goat;
an ox and a young lion will graze together,[c]
as a small child leads them along.
A cow and a bear will graze together,
their young will lie down together.[d]
A lion, like an ox, will eat straw.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 11:5 tn Heb “Justice will be the belt [or “undergarment”] on his waist, integrity the belt [or “undergarment”] on his hips.” The point of the metaphor is uncertain. If a belt worn outside the robe is in view, then the point might be that justice/integrity will be readily visible or that these qualities will give support to his rule. If an undergarment is in view, then the idea might be that these characteristics support his rule or that they are basic to everything else.
  2. Isaiah 11:6 tn The verb גּוּר (gur) normally refers to living as a dependent, resident foreigner in another society.
  3. Isaiah 11:6 tc The Hebrew text reads, “and an ox, and a young lion, and a fatling together.” Since the preceding lines refer to two animals and include a verb, many emend וּמְרִיא (umeriʾ, “and the fatling”) to an otherwise unattested verb יִמְרְאוּ (yimreʾu, “they will graze”); cf. NAB, TEV, CEV. One of the Qumran copies of Isaiah confirms this suggestion (1QIsaa). The present translation assumes this change.
  4. Isaiah 11:7 tn Heb “and a cow and a bear will graze—together—they will lie down, their young.” This is a case of pivot pattern; יַחְדָּו (yakhdav, “together”) goes with both the preceding and following statements.