Isaiah 32–33

Chapter 32

¹Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. ²And a man shall be as a hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the storm; as brooks of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land. ³And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken; ⁴and the heart of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly. ⁵The vile man shall be no more called noble, nor the churl said to be bountiful: ⁶for the vile man will speak villainy, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against Jehovah, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and to cause the drink of the thirsty to fail. ⁷The instruments also of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the meek with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right. ⁸But the noble deviseth noble things; and to noble things doth he stand.

⁹Rise up, ye women that are at ease, hear my voice; ye careless daughters, give ear unto my speech. ¹⁰In a year and some days shall ye be troubled, ye careless women; for the vintage shall fail, the ingathering shall not come. ¹¹Tremble, ye women that are at ease; be troubled, ye careless ones; strip you, and make you bare, and gird sackcloth on your loins! ¹²They shall smite on the breasts in lamentation for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vineyards. ¹³Upon the land of my people shall come up thistles and briars, yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city. ¹⁴For the palace shall be deserted, the multitude of the city shall be forsaken; hill and watchtower shall be caves for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks; ¹⁵until 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. ¹⁶And judgment shall inhabit the wilderness, and righteousness dwell in the fruitful field. ¹⁷And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance for ever. ¹⁸And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting-places. ¹⁹And it shall hail, coming down on the forest; and the city shall be low in a low place. ²⁰Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth the feet of the ox and the ass.

Chapter 33

¹Woe to thee that spoilest, and thou wast not spoiled; and that dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! When thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; when thou shalt make an end of dealing treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee. ²Jehovah, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee: be their arm every morning, yea, our salvation in the time of trouble. ³At the noise of the tumult the peoples fled; at the lifting up of thyself the nations were scattered. ⁴And your spoil shall be gathered like the gathering of the caterpillar: as the running of locusts shall they run upon it. ⁵Jehovah is exalted; for he dwelleth on high: he hath filled Zion with justice and righteousness; ⁶and he shall be the stability of thy times, the riches of salvation, wisdom and knowledge: the fear of Jehovah shall be your treasure. ⁷Behold, their valiant ones cry without; the messengers of peace weep bitterly. ⁸The highways are desolate, the wayfaring man ceaseth. He hath broken the covenant, he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man. ⁹The land mourneth, it languisheth; Lebanon is ashamed, is withered; the Sharon is become as a desert, and Bashan and Carmel are stripped. ¹⁰Now will I arise, saith Jehovah; now will I be exalted, now will I lift up myself. ¹¹Ye shall conceive dry grass, ye shall bring forth stubble: your breath shall devour you as fire. ¹²And the peoples shall be as burnings of lime, as thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire.

¹³Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and ye that are near, acknowledge my might. ¹⁴The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling hath surprised the hypocrites: Who among us shall dwell with the consuming fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting flames? ¹⁵—He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from taking hold of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil: ¹⁶he shall dwell on high, the fortresses of the rocks shall be his high retreat; bread shall be given him, his water shall be sure. ¹⁷Thine eyes shall see the King in his beauty; they shall behold the land that is far off. ¹⁸Thy heart shall meditate on terror: Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers? ¹⁹Thou shalt no more see the fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst comprehend, of a stammering tongue that cannot be understood. ²⁰Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tent that shall not be removed, the stakes whereof shall never be pulled up, neither shall any of its cords be broken; ²¹but there Jehovah is unto us glorious, —a place of rivers, of broad streams: no galley with oars shall go there, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby. ²²For Jehovah is our judge, Jehovah, our lawgiver, Jehovah, our king: he will save us. ²³Thy tacklings are loosed; they strengthen not the socket of their mast, they cannot spread the sail: then is the prey of a great spoil divided; the lame take the prey. ²⁴And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.