Isaiah 31-32

Common English Bible

31 Doom to those going down to Egypt for help!
    They rely on horses,
    trust in chariots because they are many,
    and on riders because they are very strong.
But they don’t look to the holy one of Israel;
    they don’t seek the Lord.
² But God also knows how to bring disaster;
    he has not taken back his words.
God will rise up against the house of evildoers
    and against the help of those who do wrong.
³ Egypt is human and not divine;
    their horses are flesh and not spirit.
The Lord will extend his hand;
    the helper will stumble,
    those helped will fall,
    and they will all die together.

⁸ Assyria will fall, but not by a human sword—
    a sword not made by humans will devour them.
    They will flee before the sword;
    their young men will become forced laborers.
⁹ In horror they will flee from their stronghold;
    their officers will be terrified at the signal,
        says the Lord, whose fire is in Zion
        and whose oven is in Jerusalem.

32 See here: A king rules to promote righteousness;
    rulers govern to promote justice,
²     each like a shelter from the wind
    and a refuge from a storm,
    like streams of water in a wasteland,
    like the shade of a massive cliff in a worn-out land.
³ Then the eyes of those who can see will no longer be blind,
    the ears of those who can hear will listen,
⁴     the minds of the rash will know and comprehend,
    and the tongues of those who stammer will speak fluently and plainly.
⁵ Then a fool will no longer be called honorable,
    nor a villain considered respectable.
⁶ Fools speak folly;
    their minds devise wickedness,
    acting irreverently,
    speaking falsely of the Lord,
    leaving the hungry empty,
    and depriving the thirsty of drink.
⁷ As for the villain, his villainies are evil.
    He plans schemes to destroy the poor with lying words,
    even when the needy speak justly.
⁸ But an honorable person plans honorable things
    and stands up for what is honorable.

⁹ Women of leisure, stand up! Hear my voice!
    Carefree daughters, listen to my word!
¹⁰ In a little over a year,
    the carefree will shudder,
    because the grape harvest will fail;
    the vintage won’t arrive.
¹¹ Tremble, all of you who are at ease;
    shudder, all of you who are secure!
Strip yourselves, bare your skin,
    and tie mourning clothes around your waist,
¹²     beating your breasts for the pleasant fields,
    for the fruitful vine,
¹³     for my people’s soil
    growing barbs and thorns,
    for all the joyous houses
    in the jubilant town.
¹⁴ The palace will be deserted,
    the crowded city abandoned.
Stronghold and watchtower
    will become empty fields forever,
    suited for the pleasure of wild donkeys,
    and a pasture for flocks—
¹⁵     until a spirit from on high
    is poured out on us,
    and the desert turns into farmland, and the farmland is considered a forest.
¹⁶ Then justice will reside in wild lands,
    and righteousness will abide in farmlands.
¹⁷ The fruit of righteousness will be peace,
    and the outcome of righteousness,
    calm and security forever.
¹⁸ Then my people will live in a peaceful dwelling,
    in secure homes, in carefree resting places.
¹⁹ Even if the forest falls^[a]
        and the humbled city is laid low,
²⁰     those who sow beside any stream will be happy,
    sending out ox and donkey to graze.