Isaiah 32
International Standard Version
The Government of Justice
32 “Look, a king will reign in righteousness,
and rulers will rule with justice.
2 Each one will be like a shelter from the wind
and a hiding place from[a] storms,
like streams of water in the desert,
in[b] the shadow of a great rock in an exhausted[c] land.
3 Then the eyes of those who can see won’t turn away,
and the ears of those who can hear will listen.
4 The hearts of reckless people will understand sound judgment,
and the tongues of those who stammer will be ready to speak clearly.
5 People will no longer call a fool[d] noble,
nor will a bad person be declared honorable.
6 For fools utter contempt,
and their minds plot[e] wrong things:
practicing ungodliness,
spreading lies about the Lord,
leaving the pangs of hungry people unsatisfied,
and depriving thirsty people of drink.
7 Furthermore, the crimes of bad people are evil;
and[f] they devise wicked schemes,
destroying the poor[g] with lying words,
even when needy people plead[h] a just cause.
8 But those who are decent plan noble things,
and by noble deeds they stand.”
A Rebuke for Complacent Women
9 “As for you ladies of leisure—
Get up and listen to my voice!
You daughters who feel so complacent—
hear what I have to say!
10 In little more than a year,
you complacent women will shudder;
for the grape harvest will fail,
and the fruit harvest will not[i] come.
11 So tremble, you ladies of leisure!
Shudder, you daughters who feel so complacent!
Strip down and make yourselves naked down to the waist![j]
Then wrap yourself in[k] sackcloth and beat your breasts.[l]
12 For people will be beating their breasts
in mourning[m] over the pleasant fields,
over the fruitful vines,
13 and over the land of my people
overgrown with thorns and[n] briers—
yes, over all the houses of merriment
and over this city of revelry.
14 “For the palace will be abandoned,
the noisy city deserted;
the citadel and watchtower
will become barren wastes forever,
the delight of wild donkeys,
and a pasture for[o] flocks,
15 until the Spirit from on high is poured upon us,
and the desert becomes a fertile field,
and the fertile field seems like a forest.”
Restoration of God’s Reign
16 “Then justice will live in the wilderness,
and righteousness will dwell in the fertile field.
17 The effect of righteousness will be peace,
and the result of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever.
18 My people will live in peaceful dwellings,
in secure homes and in undisturbed resting places.
19 But it will hail when the forest comes down,
and the wood[p] will be leveled completely.
20 How happy you will be, sowing your seed beside every stream,
and[q] letting your[r] cattle and donkeys range freely!”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 32:2 So 1QIsaa; MT reads of
- Isaiah 32:2 So 1QIsaa; MT reads like
- Isaiah 32:2 Or thirsty
- Isaiah 32:5 So 1QIsaa LXX; MT reads No longer will a fool will be called
- Isaiah 32:6 So 1QIsaa LXX; MT reads work
- Isaiah 32:7 So 1QIsaa LXX; the Heb. lacks and
- Isaiah 32:7 1QIsaa and MT use two different synonyms
- Isaiah 32:7 So 1QIsaa; cf. LXX; MT reads a needy one pleads
- Isaiah 32:10 So 1QIsaa; MT reads without
- Isaiah 32:11 Lit. the loins; so 1QIsaa LXX; MT reads to loins
- Isaiah 32:11 1QIsaa MT LXX lack yourself in
- Isaiah 32:11 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX lack and beat your breasts
- Isaiah 32:12 1QIsaa MT lack mourning
- Isaiah 32:13 So 1QIsaa LXX; the Heb. lacks and
- Isaiah 32:14 So 1QIsaa; MT reads of; cf. LXX
- Isaiah 32:19 So 1QIsaa; MT reads the city; LXX lacks the wood
- Isaiah 32:20 So 1QIsaa; the Heb. lacks and
- Isaiah 32:20 Lit. letting the feet of your
Isaiah 32
Lexham English Bible
The Kingdom of Righteousness
32 See, a king will rule according to righteousness,
and princes will rule according to justice.
2 And 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.
3 And the eyes of those who see will not gaze,[a]
and the ears of those who hear will listen.
4 And the minds[b] of the rash will understand knowledge,[c]
and the tongues[d] of stammerers will hasten to speak clearly.
5 A fool will no longer be called noble,
and a scoundrel will not be said to be eminent.
6 For 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.
7 And 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.
8 But[h] the nobleman plans noble things,
and he stands upon noble things.
Against the Carefree Women
9 Women who are at ease, rise up; hear my voice!
Carefree daughters, listen to my word!
10 In a year[i] you will tremble, carefree ones,
for the vintage will come to an end;
the harvest will not come.
11 Tremble, you who are at ease;
tremble, carefree ones;
strip, and strip yourself,
and gird yourself on your loins,[j]
12 mourning over breasts,
over fields of delight,
over the fruitful vine,
13 over 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.
14 For the palace will be forsaken,
the crowded city[m] deserted;
the hill and the watchtower will become[n] a cave forever,
the joy of wild asses, a pasture for[o] flocks.
15 Until 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.
16 Then[p] justice will dwell in the wilderness,
and righteousness will live in the fruitful field.
17 And the work of righteousness will be peace,
and the work of righteousness, quietness and security forever.
18 And my people will dwell in a settlement of peace
and in a dwelling place of security
and in undisturbed resting places.
19 And it hails when the forest comes down,[q]
and the city will become low in humiliation.
20 Happy are you who sow by all waters,
who let the foot of the ox and the donkey go free.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 32:3 The same consonants with different vowels would be translated “be blinded,” which fits the context better
- Isaiah 32:4 Literally “heart”
- Isaiah 32:4 Literally “to know”
- Isaiah 32:4 Hebrew “tongue”
- Isaiah 32:6 Literally “heart”
- Isaiah 32:6 Literally “do ungodliness”
- Isaiah 32:7 Or “and”
- Isaiah 32:8 Or “And”
- Isaiah 32:10 Literally “In days upon a year”
- Isaiah 32:11 Although the carefree and at ease addressees in this verse are feminine plural (“you women”), the commands are masculine singular in form
- Isaiah 32:13 Hebrew “thorn”
- Isaiah 32:13 Hebrew “brier”
- Isaiah 32:14 Literally “crowd of the city”
- Isaiah 32:14 The Hebrew text has “for the benefit of” following “become”
- Isaiah 32:14 Literally “of”
- Isaiah 32:16 Or “And”
- Isaiah 32:19 Literally “the coming down of the forest”
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