Isaiah 32

1 Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and as for princes, they shall rule in justice.

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

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

And 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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

6 For the vile person will speak villainy, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise ungodliness, and to utter wickedness against the LORD, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and to cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.

For 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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

10 After a year and days shall ye be troubled, ye confident women; for the vintage shall fail, the ingathering shall not come.

For 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.

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

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

12 Smiting upon the breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine;

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

13 For the land of my people whereon thorns and briers come up; yea, for all the houses of joy and the joyous city.

Thorn 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?

14 For the palace shall be forsaken; the city with its stir shall be deserted; the mound and the tower shall be for dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks;

For 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,

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

until 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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

19 And it shall hail, in the downfall of the forest; but the city shall descend into the valley.

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

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

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