Isaiah 32

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

Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and as for princes, they shall rule in justice.

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 shall be as in a hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as by the watercourses in a dry place, as in the shadow of a great rock in a weary 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 them that see shall not be closed, and the ears of them that hear shall attend.

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

The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly.

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

The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said to be noble.

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 vile person will speak villainy, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise ungodliness, and to utter wickedness against the LORD, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and to cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.

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 instruments also of the churl are evil; he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, and the needy when he speaketh right.

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

But the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand.

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

Rise up, ye women that are at ease, and hear my voice; ye confident daughters, give ear unto my speech.

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.

After a year and days shall ye be troubled, ye confident women; for the vintage shall fail, the ingathering shall not come.

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.

Tremble, ye women that are at ease; be troubled, ye confident ones; strip you, and make you bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins,

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

Smiting upon the breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful 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.

For the land of my people whereon thorns and briers come up; yea, for all the houses of joy and the joyous city.

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 palace shall be forsaken; the city with its stir shall be deserted; the mound and the tower shall be for dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a 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 as a forest.

Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness become a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest.

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

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

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

And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and confidence for ever.

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

And my people shall abide in a peaceable habitation, and in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting-places.

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

And it shall hail, in the downfall of the forest; but the city shall descend into the valley.

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

Happy are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth freely the feet of the ox and the ass.