Isaiah 32

The Kingdom of Righteousness

32See, a king will rule according to righteousness,

and princes will rule according to justice.

²And each one will be like a hiding place from the wind

and a covering from the rainstorm,

like streams of water in a dry region,

like the shade of a large rock in a weary land.

³And the eyes of those who see will not gaze,^a

and the ears of those who hear will listen.

⁴And the minds^b of the rash will understand knowledge,^c

and the tongues^d of stammerers will hasten to speak clearly.

⁵A fool will no longer be called noble,

and a scoundrel will not be said to be eminent.

⁶For a fool speaks folly,

and his mind^e does iniquity:

to behave wickedly,^f

and to speak error concerning Yahweh,

to leave the throat of the hungry empty,

and he deprives the thirsty of drink.

⁷And a scoundrel, his weapons are evil;

he plans evil devices

to ruin the poor with words of deception

even^g when the speech of the needy is right.

⁸But^h the nobleman plans noble things,

and he stands upon noble things.

Against the Carefree Women

⁹Women who are at ease, rise up; hear my voice!

Carefree daughters, listen to my word!

¹⁰In a yearⁱ you will tremble, carefree ones,

for the vintage will come to an end;

the harvest will not come.

¹¹Tremble, you who are at ease;

tremble, carefree ones;

strip, and strip yourself,

and gird yourself on your loins,^j

¹²mourning over breasts,

over fields of delight,

over the fruitful vine,

¹³over the soil of my people.

It goes up in thorns^k and briers,^l

indeed over all of the houses of joy in the jubilant city.

¹⁴For the palace will be forsaken,

the crowded city^m deserted;

the hill and the watchtower will becomeⁿ a cave forever,

the joy of wild asses, a pasture for^o flocks.

¹⁵Until a spirit is poured out on us from on high,

and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field,

and the fruitful field is reckoned as the forest.

¹⁶Then^p justice will dwell in the wilderness,

and righteousness will live in the fruitful field.

¹⁷And the work of righteousness will be peace,

and the work of righteousness, quietness and security forever.

¹⁸And my people will dwell in a settlement of peace

and in a dwelling place of security

and in undisturbed resting places.

¹⁹And it hails when the forest comes down,^q

and the city will become low in humiliation.

²⁰Happy are you who sow by all waters,

who let the foot of the ox and the donkey go free.