Isaiah 32
International Children’s Bible
A Good Kingdom Is Coming
32 A king will rule in a way that brings justice.
Leaders will make fair decisions.
2 Then each ruler will be like a shelter from the wind.
He will be like a safe place in a storm.
He will be like streams of water in a dry land.
He will be like a cool shadow from a large rock in a hot land.
3 People will look to the king for help.
And they will truly listen to what he says.
4 People who are now worried will be able to understand.
Those who cannot speak clearly now will then be able to speak clearly and quickly.
5 Fools will not be called great men.
People will not respect wicked men.
6 A fool says foolish things.
And in his mind he plans to do evil things.
A fool wants to do things that are wrong.
He says wrong things about the Lord.
A fool does not feed the hungry.
He does not let thirsty people drink water.
7 The wicked man uses evil like a tool.
He plans ways to take everything from poor people.
He destroys the poor with lies,
even when the poor man is in the right.
8 But a good leader plans good things to do.
And those good things make him a good leader.
Hard Times Are Coming
9 You women who are calm now,
stand up and listen to me.
You women who feel safe now,
hear what I say.
10 You women feel safe now,
but after one year you will be afraid.
There will be no grape harvest.
There will not be any summer fruit to gather.
11 Women, you are calm now, but you should shake with fear.
Women, you feel safe now, but you should tremble.
Take off your nice clothes.
Then put rough cloth around your waist to show your sadness.
12 Beat 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.
13 Cry for the land of my people.
Cry because only thorns and weeds grow there now.
Cry for the city that once was happy.
And cry for all the houses that once were filled with joy.
14 The palace will be empty.
People will leave the noisy city.
Strong cities and towers will be empty.
Wild donkeys will love to live there. Sheep will go there to eat.
Things Will Get Better
15 This will continue until God puts his Spirit from above into us.
Then the desert will be like a fertile field.
And the fertile field will be like a forest.
16 Justice will be found even in the desert.
And fairness will be found in the fertile fields.
17 That fairness will bring peace.
And fairness will bring calm and safety forever.
18 My people will live in peaceful places.
They will have safe homes.
They will live in calm places of rest.
19 Hail will destroy the forest.
And the city will be completely destroyed.
20 But you will be happy as you plant seeds near every stream.
You will let your cattle and donkeys wander freely.
Isaiah 32
King James Version
32 Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment.
2 And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.
3 And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken.
4 The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly.
5 The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said to be bountiful.
6 For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against the Lord, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.
7 The instruments also of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right.
8 But the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand.
9 Rise up, ye women that are at ease; hear my voice, ye careless daughters; give ear unto my speech.
10 Many days and years shall ye be troubled, ye careless women: for the vintage shall fail, the gathering shall not come.
11 Tremble, ye women that are at ease; be troubled, ye careless ones: strip you, and make you bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins.
12 They shall lament for the teats, for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine.
13 Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city:
14 Because the palaces shall be forsaken; the multitude of the city shall be left; the forts and towers shall be for dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks;
15 Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest.
16 Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field.
17 And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.
18 And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places;
19 When it shall hail, coming down on the forest; and the city shall be low in a low place.
20 Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
