Isaiah 32

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

See, a king will be ruling in righteousness, and chiefs will give right decisions.

2 Each one will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in a dry place, like the shade of a great rock in a land of weariness.

And a man will be as a safe place from the wind, and a cover from the storm; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shade of a great rock in a waste land.

3 Then the eyes of those who see will not be dim, and the ears of those who hear will hear attentively.

And the eyes of those who see will not be shut, and those who have hearing will give ear to the word.

4 The rash will think carefully with understanding, and the stutterer will speak distinctly and with ease.

The man of sudden impulses will become wise in heart, and he whose tongue is slow will get the power of talking clearly.

5 The fool will no longer be called honorable, nor the deceiver called principled.

The foolish man will no longer be named noble, and they will not say of the false man that he is a man of honour.

6 For the fool speaks folly, and his heart plans evil and godless actions, and he speaks wrongly against Yahweh. He makes the hungry empty, and the thirsty he causes to lack drink.

For the foolish man will say foolish things, having evil thoughts in his heart, working what is unclean, and talking falsely about the Lord, to keep food from him who is in need of it, and water from him whose soul is desiring it.

7 The deceiver's methods are evil. He devises wicked schemes to ruin the poor with lies, even when the poor say what is right.

The designs of the false are evil, purposing the destruction of the poor man by false words, even when he is in the right.

8 But the honorable man makes honorable plans; and because of his honorable actions he will stand.

But the noble-hearted man has noble purposes, and by these he will be guided.

9 Rise up, you women who are at ease, and listen to my voice; you carefree daughters, listen to me.

Give ear to my voice, you women who are living in comfort; give attention to my words, you daughters who have no fear of danger.

10 For in a little more than a year your confidence will be broken, you carefree women, for the grape harvest will fail, the ingathering will not come.

In not much more than a year, you, who are not looking for evil, will be troubled: for the produce of the vine-gardens will be cut off, and there will be no getting in of the grapes.

11 Tremble, you women who are at ease; be troubled, you confident ones; take off your fine clothes and make yourselves bare; put on sackcloth around your waists.

Be shaking with fear, you women who are living in comfort; be troubled, you who have no fear of danger: take off your robes and put on clothing of grief.

12 You will wail for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vines.

Have sorrow for the fields, the pleasing fields, the fertile vine;

13 The land of my people will be overgrown with thorns and briers, even in all the once joyful houses in the city of revelry.

And for the land of my people, where thorns will come up; even for all the houses of joy in the glad town.

14 For the palace will be forsaken, the crowded city will be deserted; the hill and the watchtower will become caves forever, a joy of wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks;

For the fair houses will have no man living in them; the town which was full of noise will become a waste; the hill and the watchtower will be unpeopled for ever, a joy for the asses of the woods, a place of food for the flocks;

15 until the Spirit is poured on us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is considered as a forest.

Till the spirit comes on us from on high, and the waste land becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field is changed into a wood.

16 Then justice will reside in the wilderness; and righteousness will live in the fruitful field.

Then in the waste land there will be an upright rule, and righteousness will have its place in the fertile field.

17 The work of righteousness will be peace; and the result of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever.

And the work of righteousness will be peace; and the effect of an upright rule will be to take away fear for ever.

18 My people will live in a peaceful habitation, in secure homes, and in quiet resting places.

And my people will be living in peace, in houses where there is no fear, and in quiet resting-places.

19 But even if it hails and the forest is destroyed, and the city is completely annihilated,

But the tall trees will come down with a great fall, and the town will be low in a low place.

20 you who sow beside all the streams will be blessed, you who send out your ox and donkey to graze.

Happy are you who are planting seed by all the waters, and sending out the ox and the ass.