Esias 32

1 For, behold, a righteous king shall reign, and princes shall govern with judgment.

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

2 And a man shall hide his words, and be hidden, as from rushing water, and shall appear in Sion as a rushing river, glorious in a thirsty 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 And they shall no more trust in men, but they shall incline their ears to hear.

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

4 And the heart of the weak ones shall attend to hear, and the stammering tongues shall soon learn to speak peace.

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

5 And they shall no more at all tell a fool to rule, and your servants shall no more at all say, Be silent.

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

6 For the fool shall speak foolish words, and his heart shall meditate vanities, and to perform lawless deeds and to speak error against the Lord, to scatter hungry souls, and he will cause the thirsty souls to be empty.

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 For the counsel of the wicked will devise iniquity, to destroy the poor with unjust words, and ruin the cause of the poor in judgment.

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 the godly have devised wise [measures], and this counsel shall stand.

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

9 Rise up, you rich women, and hear my voice; you confident daughters, listen to my words.

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

10 Remember for a full year in pain, yet with hope: the vintage has been cut off; it has ceased, it shall by no means come again.

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

11 Be amazed, be pained, you confident ones: strip you, bare yourselves, gird your loins;

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 and beat your breasts, because of the pleasant field, and the fruit of the vine.

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

13 [As for] the land of my people, the thorn and grass shall come upon [it], and joy shall be removed from every house.

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

14 [As for] the rich city, the houses are deserted; they shall abandon the wealth of the city, [and] the pleasant houses: and the villages shall be caves for ever, the joy of wild asses, shepherds' pastures;

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 shall come upon you from on high, and Chermel shall be desert, and Chermel shall be counted for 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 judgment shall abide in the wilderness, and righteousness shall dwell in Carmel.

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

17 And the works of righteousness shall be peace; and righteousness shall ensure rest, and [the righteous] shall be confident for ever.

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

18 And his people shall inhabit a city of peace, and dwell in [it] in confidence, and they shall rest with wealth.

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

19 And if the hail should come down, it shall not come upon you; and they that dwell in the forests shall be in confidence, as those in the plain country.

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

20 Blessed are they that sow by every water, where the ox and ass tread.

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