Isaiah 32

1 Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule with justice.

Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and rulers shall rule in justice.

2 Each will be like a shelter from the wind, a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in a dry land, like the shadow of a great rock in an arid land.

And a man shall be as a hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest, as streams of water in a dry place, as the shade of a great rock in a weary land.

3 Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed, and the ears of those who hear will listen.

And the eyes of those who see shall not be dim, and the ears of those who hear shall hearken.

4 The mind of the rash will know and understand, and the stammering tongue will speak clearly and fluently.

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

5 No longer will a fool be called noble, nor a scoundrel be respected.

The fool shall no more be called noble, nor the churl said to be bountiful.

6 For a fool speaks foolishness; his mind plots iniquity. He practices ungodliness and speaks falsely about the LORD; he leaves the hungry empty and deprives the thirsty of drink.

For the fool will speak folly, and his heart will work iniquity, to practice profaneness, and to utter error against Jehovah, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and to cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.

7 The weapons of the scoundrel are destructive; he hatches plots to destroy the poor with lies, even when the plea of the needy is just.

And the instruments of the churl are evil. He devises wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaks right.

8 But a noble man makes honorable plans; he stands up for worthy causes.

But a noble man devises noble things, and in noble things he shall continue.

9 Stand up, you complacent women; listen to me. Give ear to my word, you overconfident daughters.

Rise up, ye women who are at ease. Hear my voice, ye careless daughters. Give ear to my speech.

10 In a little more than a year you will tremble, O secure ones. For the grape harvest will fail and the fruit harvest will not arrive.

For ye shall be troubled days beyond a year, ye careless women. For the vintage shall fail; the ingathering shall not come.

11 Shudder, you ladies of leisure; tremble, you daughters of complacency. Strip yourselves bare and put sackcloth around your waists.

Tremble, ye women who are at ease. Be troubled, ye careless ones. Strip you, and make you bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins.

12 Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vines,

They shall beat upon the breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine.

13 and for the land of my people, overgrown with thorns and briers— even for every house of merriment in this city of revelry.

Thorns and briers shall come up on the land of my people, yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city.

14 For the palace will be forsaken, the busy city abandoned. The hill and the watchtower will become caves forever— the delight of wild donkeys and a pasture for flocks—

For the palace shall be forsaken. The populous city shall be deserted. The hill and the watch-tower shall be for dens forever, a joy of wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks,

15 until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high. Then the desert will be an orchard, and the orchard will seem like a forest.

until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be esteemed as a forest.

16 Then justice will inhabit the wilderness, and righteousness will dwell in the fertile field.

Then justice shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness shall abide in the fruitful field.

17 The work of righteousness will be peace; the service of righteousness will be quiet confidence forever.

And the work of righteousness shall be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever.

18 Then my people will dwell in a peaceful place, in safe and secure places of rest.

And my people shall abide in a peaceable habitation, and in safe dwellings, and in quiet resting-places.

19 But hail will level the forest, and the city will sink to the depths.

But it shall hail in the downfall of the forest, and the city shall be utterly laid low.

20 Blessed are those who sow beside abundant waters, who let the ox and donkey range freely.

Blessed are ye who sow beside all waters, who send forth the feet of the ox and the donkey.