Isaiah 32

1 Behold! a king shall reign in righteousness, And princes shall rule with equity.

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

2 Every one of them shall be a hiding-place from the wind, And a shelter from the tempest; As streams of water in a dry place, As the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.

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.

3 The eyes of them that see shall no more be blind, And the ears of them that hear shall hearken.

And they shall no more trust in men, but they shall incline their ears to hear.

4 The heart of the rash shall gain wisdom, And the tongue of the stammerer learn to speak plainly.

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

5 The vile shall no more be called liberal, Nor the niggard said to be bountiful;

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

6 For the vile will still utter villany, And his heart will devise iniquity; He will practise deception, and speak impiety against God; He will take away the food of the hungry, And deprive the thirsty of drink.

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.

7 The instruments also of the niggard are evil; He plotteth mischievous devices, To destroy the poor with lying words, Even when the cause of the needy is just.

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.

8 But the liberal deviseth liberal things, And in liberal things will he persevere.

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

9 Arise, hear my voice, ye women that are at ease! Give ear to my speech, ye careless daughters!

Rise up, ye rich women, and hear my voice; ye confident daughters, hearken to my words.

10 One year more, and ye shall tremble, ye careless women! For the vintage shall fail; the harvest shall not come.

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.

11 Tremble, O ye that are at ease! Be in dismay, ye careless ones! Strip you, make you bare, gird ye sackcloth upon your loins!

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

12 They shall smite themselves on their breasts, On account of the pleasant fields, On account of the fruitful vine.

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

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

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

14 For the palace shall be forsaken; The tumult of the city shall be solitary; The fortified hill and the tower shall be dens forever; The joy of wild-asses, the pasture of flocks;

[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;

15 Until the spirit from on high be poured upon us, And the wilderness become a fruitful field, And the fruitful field be esteemed a forest.

until the Spirit shall come upon you from on high, and Chermel shall be desert, and Chermel shall be counted for a forest.

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

Then judgment shall abide in the wilderness, and righteousness shall dwell in Carmel.

17 And the effect of righteousness shall be peace, And the fruit of righteousness quiet and security forever.

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

18 Then shall my people dwell in peaceful habitations, In secure dwellings, in quiet resting-places.

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

19 But the hail shall descend, and the forest shall fall; And the city shall be brought very low.

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.

20 Happy ye who sow beside all waters; Who send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass!

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