Isaiah 32

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

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

2 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.

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.

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

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

4 And the heart of the foolish will understand knowledge, and the tongue of those with impaired speech will speak quickly and plainly.

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

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

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

6 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.

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.

7 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.

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.

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

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

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

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

10 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.

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

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

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

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

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

13 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?

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

14 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,

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;

15 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.

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.

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

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

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

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

18 And my people will be seated in the beauty of peacefulness, and in the tabernacles of faithfulness, and in the opulence of restfulness.

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

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

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

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

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