Isaiah 32

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

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

2 A man shall be as a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the storm, as streams of water in a dry place, as the shade of a large 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 The eyes of those who see will not be dim, and the ears of those who hear will listen.

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

4 The heart of the rash will understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers will 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 fool will no longer be called noble, nor the scoundrel be highly respected.

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

6 For the fool will speak folly, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise profanity, and to utter error 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 ways of the scoundrel are evil. He devises wicked plans to destroy the humble with lying words, even when the needy speaks 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 noble devises noble things, and he will continue in noble things.

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

9 Rise up, you women who are at ease! Hear my voice! You careless daughters, give ear to my speech!

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

10 For days beyond a year you will be troubled, you careless women; for the vintage will fail. The harvest won’t 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, you women who are at ease! Be troubled, you careless ones! Strip yourselves, make yourselves naked, and put sackcloth on your waist.

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

12 Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine.

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

13 Thorns and briers will come up on my people’s land; yes, on all the houses of joy in 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 will be forsaken. The populous city will be deserted. The hill and the watchtower will be for dens forever, a delight for wild donkeys, 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 is poured on us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is considered 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 will dwell in the wilderness; and righteousness will remain in the fruitful field.

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

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

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

18 My people will live in a peaceful habitation, in safe 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 though hail flattens the forest, and the city is levelled completely.

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

20 Blessed are you who sow beside all waters, who send out the feet of the ox and the donkey.

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