Isaiah, 32

1. Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment.

1. A king will reign with justice and princes reign in righteousness.

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.

2. Each will be like a shield from the wind and a shelter from the rain, like streams of water in a dry, parched land, like the shade of a 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.

3. The eyes that see will not be shut; the ears that hear will not be stopped.

4. The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly.

4. The mind of the rash will not judge hastily; the tongue that stammers will speak clearly.

5. The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said [to be] bountiful.

5. No more will the fool be taken as noble, nor the scoundrel considered honorable.

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.

6. For the fool speaks folly and his mind thinks sinfully: he practices wickedness and takes pride in godlessness; he lets the hungry go without food, and the thirsty without drink.

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.

7. The ways of the scoundrel are also evil, scheming wickedly against the poor, destroying the needy with lies even when their plea is just.

8. But the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand.

8. But the noble man's plans are noble, and so are his deeds.

9. Rise up, ye women that are at ease; hear my voice, ye careless daughters; give ear unto my speech.

9. Rise up, women who are at ease; hear my voice, carefree daughters; give heed to my words.

10. Many days and years shall ye be troubled, ye careless women: for the vintage shall fail, the gathering shall not come.

10. In a little over a year, you who feel complacent will be shaken, for harvest will not come and the vintage will fail.

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.

11. Tremble, you women who are at ease; be troubled, you carefree ones. Strip yourselves bare, with only a sackcloth to cover your loins.

12. They shall lament for the teats, for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine.

12. Beat your breasts 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:

13. for the soil of my people overgrown with briers and thorns, for all the houses of joy, for the city of the wanton.

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;

14. For the palace will be abandoned, and the noisy city deserted; the fort and the tower will become dens forever, the delight of wild asses, a pasture for 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.

15. When at last the spirit is poured on us from on high, then will the desert become a garden, and this garden will be free as a fallow land.

16. Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field.

16. Justice will dwell in the wilderness; and in the fertile land, righteousness.

17. And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.

17. Justice will bring about peace; justice will produce calm and security forever.

18. And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places;

18. My people will live in comfort and bliss in a land of secure dwellings and undisturbed resting places.

19. When it shall hail, coming down on the forest; and the city shall be low in a low place.

19. While the forest will be beaten down and the fortress laid waste.

20. Blessed [are] ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth [thither] the feet of the ox and the ass.

20. How blessed you will be, sowing by every stream, letting your work animals roam contented and free.