32:1 Look, a king will promote fairness;
officials will promote justice.
32:2 Each of them
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
and ears
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
get up and listen to me!
You carefree
pay attention to what I say!
32:10 In a year’s time
you carefree ones will shake with fear,
for the grape
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
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
Hill
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.
33:1 The destroyer is as good as dead,
you who have not been destroyed!
The deceitful one is as good as dead,
the one whom others have not deceived!
When you are through destroying, you will be destroyed;
when you finish
33:2 Lord, be merciful to us! We wait for you.
Give us strength each morning!
Deliver us when distress comes.
33:3 The nations run away when they hear a loud noise;
the nations scatter when you spring into action!
33:4 Your plunder
they swarm over it like locusts!
33:5 The Lord is exalted,
indeed,
he fills Zion with justice and fairness.
33:6 He is your constant source of stability;
he abundantly provides safety and great wisdom;
he gives all this to those who fear him.
33:7 Look, ambassadors
messengers sent to make peace
33:8 Highways are empty,
there are no travelers.
Treaties are broken,
witnesses are despised,
human life is treated with disrespect.
33:9 The land
the forest of Lebanon shrivels up
Sharon
Bashan and Carmel
33:10 “Now I will rise up,” says the Lord.
“Now I will exalt myself;
now I will magnify myself.
33:11 You conceive straw,
you give birth to chaff;
your breath is a fire that destroys you.
33:12 The nations will be burned to ashes;
like thorn bushes that have been cut down, they will be set on fire.
33:13 You who are far away, listen to what I have done!
You who are close by, recognize my strength!”
33:14 Sinners are afraid in Zion;
panic
They say,
Who among us can coexist with unquenchable
33:15 The one who lives
and speaks honestly;
the one who refuses to profit from oppressive measures
and rejects a bribe;
the one who does not plot violent crimes
and does not seek to harm others
33:16 This is the person who will live in a secure place;
he will find safety in the rocky, mountain strongholds;
he will have food
and a constant supply of water.
33:17 You will see a king in his splendor;
you will see a wide land.
33:18 Your mind will recall the terror you experienced,
and you will ask yourselves,
Where is the one who weighs the money?
Where is the one who counts the towers?”
33:19 You will no longer see a defiant
whose language you do not comprehend,
whose derisive speech you do not understand.
33:20 Look at Zion, the city where we hold religious festivals!
You
a peaceful settlement,
a tent that stays put;
its stakes will never be pulled up;
none of its ropes will snap in two.
33:21 Instead the Lord will rule there as our mighty king.
Rivers and wide streams will flow through it;
no war galley will enter;
no large ships will sail through.
33:22 For the Lord, our ruler,
the Lord, our commander,
the Lord, our king –
he will deliver us.
33:23 Though at this time your ropes are slack,
the mast is not secured,
and the sail
at that time you will divide up a great quantity of loot;
even the lame will drag off plunder.
33:24 No resident of Zion
the people who live there will have their sin forgiven.