Isaiah 32

A King Will Reign in Righteousness

1  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 honorable.
 6 For g the fool speaks folly,
and his heart is busy with iniquity,
to practice 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 around 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 forever,
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 ▼
▼ Or security
 forever.
 18 My people will abide in a peaceful habitation,
in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.
 19  w And it will hail when the forest falls down,
x and the city will be utterly laid low.
 20  y Happy are you who sow beside all waters,
who let the feet of the ox and the donkey range free.
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