Isaiah 32

¹Behold, the king will reign in justice, and the princes will rule in judgment.

²And a man will be like someone hidden from the wind, who conceals himself from a storm, or like rivers of waters in a time of thirst, or like the shadow of a rock that juts out in a desert land.

³The eyes of those who see will not be obscured, and the ears of those who hear will listen closely.

⁴And the heart of the foolish will understand knowledge, and the tongue of those with impaired speech will speak quickly and plainly.

⁵He who is foolish will no longer be called leader, nor will the deceitful be called greater.

⁶For a foolish man speaks foolishness and his heart works iniquity in order to accomplish deception. And he speaks to the Lord deceitfully, so as to empty the soul of the hungry and to take away drink from the thirsty.

⁷The tools of the deceitful are very wicked. For they have concocted plans to destroy the meek by lying words, though the poor speak judgment.

⁸Yet truly, the prince will plan things that are worthy of a prince, and he will stand above the rulers.

⁹You opulent women, rise up and listen to my voice! O confident daughters, play close attention to my eloquence!

¹⁰For after a year and some days, you who are confident will be disturbed. For the vintage has been completed; the gathering will no longer occur.

¹¹Be stupefied, you opulent women! Be disturbed, O confident ones! Strip yourselves, and be confounded; gird yourselves at the waist.

¹²Mourn over your breasts, over the delightful country, over the fruitful vineyard.

¹³Thorn and brier will rise up, over the soil of my people. How much more over all the houses of gladness, over the city of exultation?

¹⁴For the house has been forsaken. The multitude of the city has been abandoned. A darkness and a covering have been placed over its dens, even unto eternity. It will be the gladness of wild donkeys and the pasture of flocks,

¹⁵until the Spirit is poured over us from on high. And the desert will be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field will be considered as a forest.

¹⁶And judgment will live in solitude, and justice will be seated in a fruitful place.

¹⁷And the work of justice will be peace. And the service of justice will be quiet and secure, forever.

¹⁸And my people will be seated in the beauty of peacefulness, and in the tabernacles of faithfulness, and in the opulence of restfulness.

¹⁹But hail will be in the descent of the forest, and the city will be brought exceedingly low.

²⁰Blessed are you who sow over any waters, sending the feet of the ox and the donkey there.

Isaiah 32

¹Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment.

²And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.

³And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken.

⁴The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly.

⁵The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said to be bountiful.

⁶For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against the Lord, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.

⁷The instruments also of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right.

⁸But the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand.

⁹Rise up, ye women that are at ease; hear my voice, ye careless daughters; give ear unto my speech.

¹⁰Many days and years shall ye be troubled, ye careless women: for the vintage shall fail, the gathering shall not come.

¹¹Tremble, ye women that are at ease; be troubled, ye careless ones: strip you, and make you bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins.

¹²They shall lament for the teats, for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine.

¹³Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city:

¹⁴Because the palaces shall be forsaken; the multitude of the city shall be left; the forts and towers shall be for dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks;

¹⁵Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest.

¹⁶Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field.

¹⁷And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.

¹⁸And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places;

¹⁹When it shall hail, coming down on the forest; and the city shall be low in a low place.

²⁰Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass.