Isaiah 32

Wycliffe Bible

32 Lo! the king shall reign in rightfulness, and the princes shall be sovereigns in doom. (Lo! the king shall reign with righteousness, and the leaders shall rule with justice.)

² And a man shall be, as he that is hid from [the] wind, and hideth himself from tempest; as streams of waters in thirst (like streams of water in thirst), and (like) the shadow of a stone standing far out in a desert land.

³ The eyes of seers, that is, prophets, shall not dim, and the ears of hearers shall harken diligently;

⁴ and the heart of fools shall understand knowing, and the tongue of stuttering men shall speak swiftly, and plainly.

⁵ He that is unwise shall no more be called prince, and a guileful man shall not be called the greater. (He who is unwise shall no more be called a leader, and the deceitful shall no more be called great, or honourable.)

⁶ Forsooth a fool shall speak folly things, and his heart shall do wickedness, that he perform feigning, and speak to the Lord guilefully (so that he act falsely, and speak deceitfully, even to the Lord); and he shall make void the soul of an hungry man, and shall take away drink from a thirsty man.

⁷ The vessels of a guileful man be worst; for he shall make ready thoughts to lose mild men in the word of a lie, (even) when a poor man spake doom. (The ways of the deceitful be the worst, or evil; they have thoughts to destroy the meek, or the humble, with lies, even when the poor speak justly, or rightly.)

⁸ Forsooth a prince shall think those things that be worthy to a prince, and he shall stand over dukes.

⁹ Rich women, rise ye (up), and hear my voice; daughters trusting, perceive ye with ears my speech (trusting daughters, listen to what I have to say).

¹⁰ For why after days and a year, and ye that trust shall be troubled; for why [the] vintage is ended, (the) gathering shall no more come (there shall be no more grapes to gather in).

¹¹ Ye rich women, be astonied; ye that trust, be troubled (Ye rich women, be astonished; ye who be so trusting, be troubled); unclothe ye you, and be ye ashamed; gird your loins;

¹² wail ye on breasts, on the desirable country(side), on the plenteous vinery. (beat ye your breasts, and wail ye, for the desirable land, and for the plentiful vines.)

¹³ Thorns and briars shall ascend on the earth of my people; how much more on all the houses of joy of the city making full out joy? (Thorns and briars shall grow on the land of my people, and how much more in all the houses of joy, in the city making full out joy?)

¹⁴ For why the house is left, the multitude of the city is forsaken; darknesses and groping be made on [the] dens, till into without end. The joy of wild asses is the pasture of flocks; (For the palace is left empty, and all the city is deserted; darkness and groping be made on the glens forever. The place of joy for the wild donkeys is now the pasture for flocks;)

¹⁵ till the spirit be shed out on us from on high, and the desert shall be into Carmel, and Carmel shall be areckoned into a forest. (until the Spirit is poured out on us from on high, and the wilderness shall be turned into a plentiful land, and the plentiful land shall reckoned as a forest.)

¹⁶ And doom shall dwell in wilderness, and rightfulness shall sit in Carmel; (And justice, or judgement, shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness shall be in the plentiful land;)

¹⁷ and the work of rightfulness shall be peace, and the tilth of rightfulness shall be stillness and secureness, till into without end. (and the work of righteousness shall be peace, and the fruit, or the harvest, of righteousness shall be peace and security forever.)

¹⁸ And my people shall sit in the fairness of peace, and in the tabernacles of trust, and in rich rest.

¹⁹ But hail shall be in the coming down of the forest, and by lowness the city shall be made low (and the city shall be made low in a low place).

²⁰ Blessed be ye, that sow on all waters, and send in the foot of an ox and of an ass. (Blessed be ye, who sow by all the waters, yea, send in there the foot of an ox and the foot of a donkey.)