Isaiah 32
New English Translation
Justice and Wisdom Will Prevail
32 Look, a king will promote fairness;[a]
officials will promote justice.[b]
2 Each of them[c] will be like a shelter from the wind
and a refuge from a rainstorm;
like streams of water in a dry region
and like the shade of a large cliff in a parched land.
3 Eyes[d] will no longer be blind[e]
and ears[f] will be attentive.
4 The mind that acts rashly will possess discernment,[g]
and the tongue that stutters will speak with ease and clarity.
5 A fool will no longer be called honorable;
a deceiver will no longer be called principled.
6 For a fool speaks disgraceful things;[h]
his mind plans out sinful deeds.[i]
He commits godless deeds[j]
and says misleading things about the Lord;
he gives the hungry nothing to satisfy their appetite[k]
and gives the thirsty nothing to drink.[l]
7 A deceiver’s methods are evil;[m]
he dreams up evil plans[n]
to ruin the poor with lies,
even when the needy are in the right.[o]
8 An honorable man makes honorable plans;
his honorable character gives him security.[p]
The Lord Will Give True Security
9 You complacent[q] women,
get up and listen to me!
You carefree[r] daughters,
pay attention to what I say!
10 In a year’s time[s]
you carefree ones will shake with fear,
for the grape harvest[t] will fail,
and the fruit harvest will not arrive.
11 Tremble, you complacent ones!
Shake with fear, you carefree ones!
Strip off your clothes and expose yourselves—
put sackcloth around your waists.[u]
12 Mourn over the field,[v]
over the delightful fields
and the fruitful vine.
13 Mourn[w] over the land of my people,
which is overgrown with thorns and briers,
and over all the once-happy houses[x]
in the city filled with revelry.[y]
14 For the fortress is neglected;
the once-crowded[z] city is abandoned.
Hill[aa] and watchtower
are permanently uninhabited.[ab]
Wild donkeys love to go there,
and flocks graze there.[ac]
15 This desolation will continue[ad] until new life is poured out on us from heaven.[ae]
Then the wilderness will become an orchard[af]
and the orchard will be considered a forest.[ag]
16 Justice will settle down in the wilderness
and fairness will live in the orchard.[ah]
17 Fairness will produce peace[ai]
and result in lasting security.[aj]
18 My people will live in peaceful settlements,
in secure homes,
and in safe, quiet places.[ak]
19 Even if the forest is destroyed[al]
and the city is annihilated,[am]
20 you will be blessed,
you who plant seed by all the banks of the streams,[an]
you who let your ox and donkey graze.[ao]
Footnotes
- Isaiah 32:1 tn Heb “will reign according to fairness.”
- Isaiah 32:1 tn Heb “will rule according to justice.”
- Isaiah 32:2 tn Heb “a man,” but אִישׁ (ʾish) probably refers here to “each” of the officials mentioned in the previous verse.
- Isaiah 32:3 tn Heb “Eyes that see.”
- Isaiah 32:3 tn The Hebrew text as vocalized reads literally “will not gaze,” but this is contradictory to the context. The verb form should be revocalized as תְּשֹׁעֶינָה (teshoʿenah) from שָׁעַע (shʿaʿa, “be blinded”); see Isa 6:10; 29:9.
- Isaiah 32:3 tn Heb “ears that hear.”
- Isaiah 32:4 tn Heb “the heart of rashness will understand knowledge”; cf. NAB “The flighty will become wise and capable.”
- Isaiah 32:6 tn Or “foolishness,” in a moral-ethical sense. See 9:17.
- Isaiah 32:6 tn Heb “and his heart commits sin”; KJV, ASV “his heart will work iniquity”; NASB “inclines toward wickedness.”
- Isaiah 32:6 tn Heb “in order to do [or “so that he does”] what is godless [or “defiled”].”
- Isaiah 32:6 tn Heb “so that he leaves empty the appetite [or “desire”] of the hungry.”
- Isaiah 32:6 tn Heb “and the drink of the thirsty he causes to fail.”
- Isaiah 32:7 tn Heb “as for a deceiver, his implements [or “weapons”] are evil.”
- Isaiah 32:7 tn Or “he plans evil things”; NIV “he makes up evil schemes.”
- Isaiah 32:7 tn Heb “to ruin the poor with words of falsehood, even when the needy speak what is just.”
- Isaiah 32:8 tn Heb “and he upon honorable things stands.”
- Isaiah 32:9 tn Or “self-assured”; NASB, NRSV “who are at ease.”
- Isaiah 32:9 tn Or “self-confident”; NAB “overconfident.”
- Isaiah 32:10 tn Heb “days upon a year.”
- Isaiah 32:10 tn Or perhaps, “olive.” See 24:13.
- Isaiah 32:11 tn The imperatival forms in v. 11 are problematic. The first (חִרְדוּ, khiredu, “tremble”) is masculine plural in form, though spoken to a feminine plural addressee (שַׁאֲנַנּוֹת, shaʾanannot, “complacent ones”). The four imperatival forms that follow (רְגָזָה, regazah, “shake with fear”; פְּשֹׁטָה, peshotah, “strip off your clothes”; עֹרָה, ʿorah, “expose yourselves”; and חֲגוֹרָה, khagorah, “put on”) all appear to be lengthened (so-called “emphatic”) masculine singular forms, even though they too appear to be spoken to a feminine plural addressee. GKC 131-32 §48.i suggests emending חִרְדוּ (khiredu) to חֲרָדָה (kharadah) and understanding all five imperatives as feminine plural “Aramaized” forms.
- Isaiah 32:12 tc The Hebrew text has “over mourning breasts.” The reference to “breasts” would make sense in light of v. 11, which refers to the practice of women baring their breasts as a sign of sorrow (see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 1:585). However, one expects the preposition עַל (ʿal) to introduce the source or reason for mourning (see vv. 12b-13a) and the participle סֹפְדִים (sofedim, “mourning”) seems odd modifying “breasts.” The translation above assumes a twofold emendation: (1) שָׁדַיִם (shadayim, “breasts”) is emended to [ם]שָׂדַי (saday[m], “field,” a term that also appears in Isa 56:9). The final mem (ם) would be enclitic in this case, not a plural indicator. (The Hebrew noun שָׂדֶה (sadeh, “field”) forms its plural with an וֹת- [-ot] ending). (2) The plural participle סֹפְדִים is emended to סְפֹדָה (sefodah), a lengthened imperatival form, meaning “mourn.” For an overview of various suggestions that have been made for this difficult line, see Oswalt, 586, n. 12).
- Isaiah 32:13 tn “Mourn” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text vv. 12-13 are one long sentence.
- Isaiah 32:13 tn Heb “indeed, over all the houses of joy.” It is not certain if this refers to individual homes or to places where parties and celebrations were held.
- Isaiah 32:13 sn This same phrase is used in 22:2.
- Isaiah 32:14 tn Or “noisy” (NAB, NIV, NCV).
- Isaiah 32:14 tn Hebrew עֹפֶל (ʿofel), probably refers here to a specific area within the city of Jerusalem. See HALOT 861 s.v. II עֹפֶל.
- Isaiah 32:14 tn The Hebrew text has בְעַד מְעָרוֹת (veʿad meʿarot). The force of בְעַד, which usually means “behind, through, round about,” or “for the benefit of,” is uncertain here. HALOT 616 s.v. *מְעָרָה takes מְעָרוֹת (meʿarot) as a homonym of “cave” and defines it here as “cleared field.” Despite these lexical problems, the general point of the statement seems clear—the city will be uninhabited.
- Isaiah 32:14 tn Heb “the joy of wild donkeys, a pasture for flocks.”
- Isaiah 32:15 tn The words “The desolation will continue” refer to the previous context and have been added for smoothness.
- Isaiah 32:15 tn Heb “until a spirit is emptied out on us from on high.” The words “this desolation will continue” are supplied in the translation for clarification and stylistic purposes. The verb עָרָה (ʿarah), used here in the Niphal, normally means “lay bare, expose.” The term רוּחַ (ruakh, “spirit”) is often understood here as a reference to the divine spirit (cf. 44:3 and NASB, NIV, CEV, NLT), but it appears here without an article (cf. NRSV “a spirit”), pronominal suffix, or a genitive (such as “of the Lord”). The translation assumes that it carries an impersonal nuance “vivacity, vigor” in this context.
- Isaiah 32:15 tn The term כַּרְמֶל (karmel) may refer to fertile land, an orchard, a garden of vines, a plantation of trees, or fresh grain. The dictionaries may subdivide these meaning under homonyms (see BDB 502, NIDOTTE 718, HALOT 499, The Concise DCH, 183). The picture of transformation is clearer when it is understood that a מִדְבָּר (midbar, “wilderness”) is an area that does not receive enough rainfall to support trees.
- Isaiah 32:15 sn The same statement appears in 29:17b, where, in conjunction with the preceding line, it appears to picture a reversal. Here it seems to depict supernatural growth. The desert will blossom into an orchard, and the trees of the orchard will multiply and grow tall, becoming a forest.
- Isaiah 32:16 sn This new era of divine blessing will also include a moral/ethical transformation, as justice and fairness fill the land and replace the social injustice so prevalent in Isaiah’s time.
- Isaiah 32:17 tn Heb “and the product of fairness will be peace.”
- Isaiah 32:17 tn Heb “and the work of fairness [will be] calmness and security forever.”
- Isaiah 32:18 tn Or “in safe resting places”; NAB, NRSV “quiet resting places.”
- Isaiah 32:19 tn Heb “and [?] when the forest descends.” The form וּבָרַד (uvarad) is often understood as an otherwise unattested denominative verb meaning “to hail” (HALOT 154 s.v. I ברד). In this case one might translate, “and it hails when the forest is destroyed” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NIV). Perhaps the text alludes to a powerful wind and hail storm that knocks down limbs and trees. Some prefer to emend the form to וְיָרַד (veyarad), “and it descends,” which provides better, though not perfect, symmetry with the parallel line (cf. NAB). Perhaps וּבָרַד should be dismissed as dittographic. In this case the statement (“when the forest descends”) lacks a finite verb and seems incomplete, but perhaps it is subordinate to v. 20.
- Isaiah 32:19 tn Heb “and in humiliation the city is laid low.”
- Isaiah 32:20 tn Heb “by all the waters.”
- Isaiah 32:20 tn Heb “who set free the foot of the ox and donkey”; NIV “letting your cattle and donkeys range free.”sn This verse seems to anticipate a time when fertile land is available to cultivate and crops are so abundant that the farm animals can be allowed to graze freely.
Isaiah 32
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Government with Justice Predicted
32 See, a king will reign in righteousness,
and princes[a] will rule with justice.(A)
2 Each will be like a hiding place from the wind,
a covert from the tempest,
like streams of water in a dry place,
like the shade of a great rock in a weary land.(B)
3 Then the eyes of those who have sight will not be closed,
and the ears of those who have hearing will listen.(C)
4 The minds of the rash will have good judgment,
and the tongues of stammerers will speak readily and distinctly.(D)
5 A fool will no longer be called noble
nor a villain said to be honorable.(E)
6 For fools speak folly,
and their minds plot iniquity:
to practice ungodliness,
to utter error concerning the Lord,
to leave the craving of the hungry unsatisfied,
and to deprive the thirsty of drink.(F)
7 The villainies of villains are evil;
they devise wicked devices
to ruin the poor with lying words,
even when the plea of the needy is right.(G)
8 But those who are noble plan noble things,
and by noble things they stand.(H)
Complacent Women Warned of Disaster
9 Rise up, you women who are at ease, hear my voice;
you complacent daughters, listen to my speech.(I)
10 In little more than a year
you will shudder, you complacent ones,
for the vintage will fail;
the fruit harvest will not come.(J)
11 Tremble, you women who are at ease;
shudder, you complacent ones;
strip and make yourselves bare,
and put sackcloth on your loins.(K)
12 Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields,[b]
for the fruitful vine,(L)
13 for the soil of my people
growing up in thorns and briers,
yes, for all the joyous houses
in the jubilant city.(M)
14 For the palace will be forsaken,
the populous city deserted;
the hill and the watchtower
will become dens forever,
the joy of wild asses,
a pasture for flocks;(N)
15 until a spirit from on high is poured out on us,
and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field,
and the fruitful field is deemed a forest.(O)
The Peace of God’s Reign
16 Then justice will dwell in the wilderness
and righteousness abide in the fruitful field.(P)
17 The effect of righteousness will be peace,
and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever.(Q)
18 My people will abide in a peaceful habitation,
in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.
19 The forest will disappear completely,[c]
and the city will be utterly laid low.(R)
20 Happy will you be who sow beside every stream,
who let the ox and the donkey range freely.(S)
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