Isaiah 32
32
A Good Kingdom Is Coming
1A king will rule in a way that brings justice.
Leaders will make fair decisions.
2Then each ruler will be like a shelter from the wind.
He will be like a safe place in a storm.
He will be like streams of water in a dry land.
He will be like a cool shadow from a large rock in a hot land.
3People will look to the king for help.
And they will truly listen to what he says.
4People who are now worried will be able to understand.
Those who cannot speak clearly now will then be able to speak clearly and quickly.
5Fools will not be called great men.
People will not respect wicked men.
6A fool says foolish things.
And in his mind he plans to do evil things.
A fool wants to do things that are wrong.
He says wrong things about the Lord.
A fool does not feed the hungry.
He does not let thirsty people drink water.
7The wicked man uses evil like a tool.
He plans ways to take everything from poor people.
He destroys the poor with lies,
even when the poor man is in the right.
8But a good leader plans good things to do.
And those good things make him a good leader.
Hard Times Are Coming
9You women who are calm now,
stand up and listen to me.
You women who feel safe now,
hear what I say.
10You women feel safe now,
but after one year you will be afraid.
There will be no grape harvest.
There will not be any summer fruit to gather.
11Women, you are calm now, but you should shake with fear.
Women, you feel safe now, but you should tremble.
Take off your nice clothes.
Then put rough cloth around your waist to show your sadness.
12Beat your breasts in grief because the fields that were pleasant are now empty.
Cry because the vines that once had fruit now have no more grapes.
13Cry for the land of my people.
Cry because only thorns and weeds grow there now.
Cry for the city that once was happy.
And cry for all the houses that once were filled with joy.
14The palace will be empty.
People will leave the noisy city.
Strong cities and towers will be empty.
Wild donkeys will love to live there. Sheep will go there to eat.
Things Will Get Better
15This will continue until God puts his Spirit from above into us.
Then the desert will be like a fertile field.
And the fertile field will be like a forest.
16Justice will be found even in the desert.
And fairness will be found in the fertile fields.
17That fairness will bring peace.
And fairness will bring calm and safety forever.
18My people will live in peaceful places.
They will have safe homes.
They will live in calm places of rest.
19Hail will destroy the forest.
And the city will be completely destroyed.
20But you will be happy as you plant seeds near every stream.
You will let your cattle and donkeys wander freely.
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Isaiah 32: ICB
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Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Isaiah 32
32
1Behold, a king will reign in righteousness,
and princes will rule in justice.
2Each 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.
3Then the eyes of those who see will not be closed,
and the ears of those who hear will hearken.
4The mind of the rash will have good judgment,
and the tongue of the stammerers will speak readily and distinctly.
5The fool will no more be called noble,
nor the knave said to be honorable.
6For the fool speaks folly,
and his mind plots 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.
7The knaveries of the knave are evil;
he devises wicked devices
to ruin the poor with lying words,
even when the plea of the needy is right.
8But he who is noble devises noble things,
and by noble things he stands.
9Rise up, you women who are at ease, hear my voice;
you complacent daughters, give ear to my speech.
10In little more than a year
you will shudder, you complacent women;
for the vintage will fail,
the fruit harvest will not come.
11Tremble, you women who are at ease,
shudder, you complacent ones;
strip, and make yourselves bare,
and gird sackcloth upon your loins.
12Beat upon your breasts for the pleasant fields,
for the fruitful vine,
13for the soil of my people
growing up in thorns and briers;
yea, for all the joyous houses
in the joyful city.
14For the palace will be forsaken,
the populous city deserted;
the hill and the watchtower
will become dens for ever,
a joy of wild asses,
a pasture of flocks;
15until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high,
and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field,
and the fruitful field is deemed a forest.
16Then justice will dwell in the wilderness,
and righteousness abide in the fruitful field.
17And the effect of righteousness will be peace,
and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust for ever.
18My people will abide in a peaceful habitation,
in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.
19And the forest will utterly go down,#32.19 Cn: Heb And it will hail when the forest comes down
and the city will be utterly laid low.
20Happy are you who sow beside all waters,
who let the feet of the ox and the ass range free.
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Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America