A King Will Reign in Righteousness
32 Behold, (A)a king will reign in righteousness,
and princes will rule in justice.
2 (B)Each will be like a hiding place from the wind,
a shelter from the storm,
(C)like streams of water in a dry place,
like the shade of a great rock in a weary land.
3 (D)Then the eyes of those who see will not be closed,
and the ears of those who hear will give attention.
4 The heart of the hasty will understand and know,
(E)and the tongue of the stammerers will hasten to speak distinctly.
5 (F)The fool will no more be called noble,
nor the scoundrel said to be honourable.
6 For (G)the fool speaks folly,
and his heart is busy with iniquity,
to practise ungodliness,
to utter error concerning the Lord,
(H)to leave the craving of the hungry unsatisfied,
and to deprive the thirsty of drink.
7 As for the scoundrel—(I)his devices are evil;
he plans wicked schemes
to ruin the poor with lying words,
even when the plea of the needy is right.
8 But he who is noble plans noble things,
and on noble things he stands.
Complacent Women Warned of Disaster
9 (J)Rise up, you women (K)who are at ease, hear my voice;
you complacent daughters, give ear to my speech.
10 In little more than a year
you will shudder, you complacent women;
for the grape harvest fails,
the fruit harvest will not come.
11 Tremble, you women (L)who are at ease,
shudder, you complacent ones;
(M)strip, and make yourselves bare,
(N)and tie sackcloth round your waist.
12 (O)Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields,
for the fruitful vine,
13 (P)for the soil of my people
growing up in thorns and briers,
(Q)yes, for all the joyous houses
in the exultant city.
14 For the palace is forsaken,
the populous city deserted;
the hill and the watchtower
will become dens for ever,
(R)a joy of wild donkeys,
a pasture of flocks;
15 until (S)the Spirit is poured upon us from on high,
and (T)the wilderness becomes a fruitful field,
and the fruitful field is deemed a forest.
16 Then justice will dwell in the wilderness,
and righteousness abide in the fruitful field.
17 (U)And the effect of righteousness will be peace,
and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust[a] for ever.
18 My people will abide in a peaceful habitation,
in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting-places.
19 (V)And it will hail when the forest falls down,
(W)and the city will be utterly laid low.
20 (X)Happy are you who sow beside all waters,
who let the feet of the ox and the donkey range free.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 32:17 Or security
Cross references
- Isaiah 32:1 : Ps. 72:1, 2, 4; Jer. 23:5; See ch. 11:1-4
- Isaiah 32:2 : ch. 4:6; 25:4
- Isaiah 32:2 : ch. 33:21
- Isaiah 32:3 : See ch. 29:18
- Isaiah 32:4 : ch. 35:6
- Isaiah 32:5 : [ch. 5:20]
- Isaiah 32:6 : 1 Sam. 24:13
- Isaiah 32:6 : [ch. 3:14, 15]
- Isaiah 32:7 : Mic. 2:1, 2
- Isaiah 32:9 : See ch. 3:16–4:1
- Isaiah 32:9 : Amos 6:1
- Isaiah 32:11 : [See ver. 9 above]; Amos 6:1
- Isaiah 32:11 : [ch. 47:2, 3]
- Isaiah 32:11 : See Gen. 37:34
- Isaiah 32:12 : [ch. 24:7]
- Isaiah 32:13 : ch. 7:23; 34:13; Hos. 9:6
- Isaiah 32:13 : [ch. 24:11, 12]
- Isaiah 32:14 : Jer. 2:24
- Isaiah 32:15 : [ch. 11:2; Joel 2:28]
- Isaiah 32:15 : ch. 35:1, 2; [ch. 29:17]
- Isaiah 32:17 : James 3:18; [ch. 1:27; Ps. 72:3; 119:165]
- Isaiah 32:19 : ch. 28:2, 17
- Isaiah 32:19 : ch. 26:5
- Isaiah 32:20 : Eccles. 11:1; [ch. 30:23]