Isaiah 32:9–15

Hard Times Are Coming

⁹You women who are calm now,

stand up and listen to me.

You women who feel safe now,

hear what I say.

¹⁰You women feel safe now,

but after one year you will be afraid.

There will be no grape harvest

and no summer fruit to gather.

¹¹Women, you are calm now, but you should shake with fear.

Women, you feel safe now, but you should tremble.

Take off your nice clothes

and put rough cloth around your waist to show your sadness.

¹²Beat your breasts in grief, because the fields that were pleasant are now empty.

Cry, because the vines that once had fruit now have no more grapes.

¹³Cry for the land of my people,

in which only thorns and weeds now grow.

Cry for the city that once was happy

and for all the houses that once were filled with joy.

¹⁴The palace will be empty;

people will leave the noisy city.

Strong cities and towers will be empty.

Wild donkeys will love to live there, and sheep will go there to eat.

Things Will Get Better

¹⁵This will continue until God pours his Spirit from above upon us.

Then the desert will be like a fertile field

and the fertile field like a forest.