He will take delight in obeying the Lord. ¹  He will not judge by mere appearances, ²  or make decisions on the basis of hearsay. ³ 

biblegateway Isa 11:3

And He will delight in the fear of the LORD, And He will not judge by what His eyes see, Nor make a decision by what His ears hear;

His delight will be in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what He sees with His eyes, He will not execute justice by what He hears with His ears,

He will gladly bear the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what his eyes see or decide by what his ears hear.

biblegateway Isa 11:3

and he will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears;

And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear,

bibleoremus Isa 11:3

His delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear;

and in the fear of the LORD will be his delight. He will not judge by outward appearances or decide a case on hearsay;

biblegateway Isa 11:3

His delight is in the fear of the LORD, And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, Nor decide by the hearing of His ears;

And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:

biblegateway Isa 11:3

He will take delight in obeying the Lord. ¹  He will not judge by mere appearances, ²  or make decisions on the basis of hearsay. ³ 

¹ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “and his smelling is in the fear of the Lord.” In Amos 5:21 the Hiphil of רוּחַ (ruakh, “smell”) carries the nuance of “smell with delight, get pleasure from.” There the Lord declares that he does not “smell with delight” (i.e., get pleasure from) Israel’s religious assemblies, which probably stand by metonymy for the incense offered during these festivals. In Isa 11:3 there is no sacrificial context to suggest such a use, but it is possible that “the fear of the Lord” is likened to incense. This coming king will get the same kind of delight from obeying (fearing) the Lord, as a deity does in the incense offered by worshipers. Some regard such an explanation as strained in this context, and prefer to omit this line from the text as a virtual dittograph of the preceding statement.

² tn Heb “by what appears to his eyes”; KJV “after the sight of his eyes”; NIV “by what he sees with his eyes.”

³ tn Heb “by what is heard by his ears”; NRSV “by what his ears hear.”