Isaiah 32

32:1 Look, a king will promote fairness;

officials will promote justice.

32:2 Each of them 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.

32:3 Eyes will no longer be blind

and ears will be attentive.

32:4 The mind that acts rashly will possess discernment

and the tongue that stutters will speak with ease and clarity.

32:5 A fool will no longer be called honorable;

a deceiver will no longer be called principled.

32:6 For a fool speaks disgraceful things;

his mind plans out sinful deeds.

He commits godless deeds

and says misleading things about the Lord;

he gives the hungry nothing to satisfy their appetite

and gives the thirsty nothing to drink.

32:7 A deceiver’s methods are evil;

he dreams up evil plans

to ruin the poor with lies,

even when the needy are in the right.

32:8 An honorable man makes honorable plans;

his honorable character gives him security.

32:9 You complacent women,

get up and listen to me!

You carefree daughters,

pay attention to what I say!

32:10 In a year’s time

you carefree ones will shake with fear,

for the grape harvest will fail,

and the fruit harvest will not arrive.

32:11 Tremble, you complacent ones!

Shake with fear, you carefree ones!

Strip off your clothes and expose yourselves –

put sackcloth on your waist!

32:12 Mourn over the field,

over the delightful fields

and the fruitful vine!

32:13 Mourn over the land of my people,

which is overgrown with thorns and briers,

and over all the once-happy houses

in the city filled with revelry.

32:14 For the fortress is neglected;

the once-crowded city is abandoned.

Hill and watchtower

are permanently uninhabited.

Wild donkeys love to go there,

and flocks graze there.

32:15 This desolation will continue until new life is poured out on us from heaven.

Then the desert will become an orchard

and the orchard will be considered a forest.

32:16 Justice will settle down in the desert

and fairness will live in the orchard.

32:17 Fairness will produce peace

and result in lasting security.

32:18 My people will live in peaceful settlements,

in secure homes,

and in safe, quiet places.

32:19 Even if the forest is destroyed

and the city is annihilated,

32:20 you will be blessed,

you who plant seed by all the banks of the streams,

you who let your ox and donkey graze.