Isaiah 32
Justice and Wisdom Will Prevail
32:1 Look, a king will promote fairness;1
officials will promote justice.2
32:2 Each of them3 will be like a shelter from the wind
and a refuge from a rainstorm;
like streams of water in a dry region
and like the shade of a large cliff in a parched land.
32:3 Eyes4 will no longer be blind5
and ears6 will be attentive.
32:4 The mind that acts rashly will possess discernment7
and the tongue that stutters will speak with ease and clarity.
32:5 A fool will no longer be called honorable;
a deceiver will no longer be called principled.
32:6 For a fool speaks disgraceful things;8
his mind plans out sinful deeds.9
He commits godless deeds10
and says misleading things about the
he gives the hungry nothing to satisfy their appetite11
and gives the thirsty nothing to drink.12
32:7 A deceiver’s methods are evil;13
he dreams up evil plans14
to ruin the poor with lies,
even when the needy are in the right.15
32:8 An honorable man makes honorable plans;
his honorable character gives him security.16
The Lord Will Give True Security
32:9 You complacent17 women,
get up and listen to me!
You carefree18 daughters,
pay attention to what I say!
32:10 In a year’s time19
you carefree ones will shake with fear,
for the grape20 harvest will fail,
and the fruit harvest will not arrive.
32:11 Tremble, you complacent ones!
Shake with fear, you carefree ones!
Strip off your clothes and expose yourselves –
put sackcloth on your waist!21
32:12 Mourn over the field,22
over the delightful fields
and the fruitful vine!
32:13 Mourn23 over the land of my people,
which is overgrown with thorns and briers,
and over all the once-happy houses24
in the city filled with revelry.25
32:14 For the fortress is neglected;
the once-crowded26 city is abandoned.
Hill27 and watchtower
are permanently uninhabited.28
Wild donkeys love to go there,
and flocks graze there.29
32:15 This desolation will continue until new life is poured out on us from heaven.30
Then the desert will become an orchard
and the orchard will be considered a forest.31
32:16 Justice will settle down in the desert
and fairness will live in the orchard.32
32:17 Fairness will produce peace33
and result in lasting security.34
32:18 My people will live in peaceful settlements,
in secure homes,
and in safe, quiet places.35
32:19 Even if the forest is destroyed36
and the city is annihilated,37
you who plant seed by all the banks of the streams,38
you who let your ox and donkey graze.39