Isaiah 32

A King Will Reign in Righteousness

1 Behold, o a king will reign in righteousness,
and princes will rule in justice.
 2 p Each will be like a hiding place from the wind,
a shelter from the storm,
q like streams of water in a dry place,
like the shade of a great rock in a weary land.
 3 r Then the eyes of those who see will not be closed,
and the ears of those who hear will give attention.
 4 The heart of the hasty will understand and know,
s and the tongue of the stammerers will hasten to speak distinctly.
 5 t The fool will no more be called noble,
nor the scoundrel said to be honorable.
 6 For u the fool speaks folly,
and his heart is busy with iniquity,
to practice ungodliness,
to utter error concerning the Lord,
v to leave the craving of the hungry unsatisfied,
and to deprive the thirsty of drink.
 7 As for the scoundrel - w his devices are evil;
he plans wicked schemes
to ruin the poor with lying words,
even when the plea of the needy is right.
 8 But he who is noble plans noble things,
and on noble things he stands.

Complacent Women Warned of Disaster

9 x Rise up, you women y who are at ease, hear my voice;
you complacent daughters, give ear to my speech.
 10 In little more than a year
you will shudder, you complacent women;
for the grape harvest fails,
the fruit harvest will not come.
 11 Tremble, you women y who are at ease,
shudder, you complacent ones;
z strip, and make yourselves bare,
a and tie sackcloth around your waist.
 12 b Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields,
for the fruitful vine,
 13 c for the soil of my people
growing up in thorns and briers,
d yes, for all the joyous houses
in the exultant city.
 14 For the palace is forsaken,
the populous city deserted;
the hill and the watchtower
will become dens forever,
e a joy of wild donkeys,
a pasture of flocks;
 15 until f the Spirit is poured upon us from on high,
and g the wilderness becomes a fruitful field,
and the fruitful field is deemed a forest.
 16 Then justice will dwell in the wilderness,
and righteousness abide in the fruitful field.
 17 h And the effect of righteousness will be peace,
and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust 1 forever.
 18 My people will abide in a peaceful habitation,
in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.
 19 i And it will hail when the forest falls down,
j and the city will be utterly laid low.
 20 k Happy are you who sow beside all waters,
who let the feet of the ox and the donkey range free.

  1. Cross References
    Psalms 72:1 - 2
    Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to the royal son!
    Psalms 72:4
    May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor!
    Jeremiah 23:5
    Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.
    Isaiah 11:1 - 4
    There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
  2. Cross References
    Isaiah 4:6
    There will be a booth for shade by day from the heat, and for a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain.
    Isaiah 25:4
    For you have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat; for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall.
  3. Cross References
    Isaiah 33:21
    But there the Lord in majesty will be for us a place of broad rivers and streams, where no galley with oars can go, nor majestic ship can pass.
  4. Cross References
    Isaiah 29:18
    In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see.
  5. Cross References
    Isaiah 35:6
    Then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert.
  6. Cross References
    Isaiah 5:20
    Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
  7. Cross References
    1 Samuel 24:13
    As the proverb of the ancients says, 'Out of the wicked comes wickedness.' But my hand shall not be against you.
  8. Cross References
    Isaiah 3:14 - 15
    The Lord will enter into judgment with the elders and princes of his people: "It is you who have devoured the vineyard, the spoil of the poor is in your houses.
  9. Cross References
    Micah 2:1 - 2
    Woe to those who devise wickedness and work evil on their beds! When the morning dawns, they perform it, because it is in the power of their hand.
  10. Cross References
    Isaiah 3:16 - 4:1
    The Lord said: Because the daughters of Zion are haughty and walk with outstretched necks, glancing wantonly with their eyes, mincing along as they go, tinkling with their feet.
  11. Cross References
    Amos 6:1
    Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, and to those who feel secure on the mountain of Samaria, the notable men of the first of the nations, to whom the house of Israel comes!
  12. Cross References
    Isaiah 32:9
    Rise up, you women who are at ease, hear my voice; you complacent daughters, give ear to my speech.
  13. Cross References
    Isaiah 47:2 - 3
    Take the millstones and grind flour, put off your veil, strip off your robe, uncover your legs, pass through the rivers.
  14. Cross References
    Genesis 37:34
    Then Jacob tore his garments and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days.
  15. Cross References
    Isaiah 24:7
    The wine mourns, the vine languishes, all the merry-hearted sigh.
  16. Cross References
    Isaiah 7:23
    In that day every place where there used to be a thousand vines, worth a thousand shekels of silver, will become briers and thorns.
    Isaiah 34:13
    Thorns shall grow over its strongholds, nettles and thistles in its fortresses. It shall be the haunt of jackals, an abode for ostriches.
    Hosea 9:6
    For behold, they are going away from destruction; but Egypt shall gather them; Memphis shall bury them. Nettles shall possess their precious things of silver; thorns shall be in their tents.
  17. Cross References
    Isaiah 24:11 - 12
    There is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine; all joy has grown dark; the gladness of the earth is banished.
  18. Cross References
    Jeremiah 2:24
    A wild donkey used to the wilderness, in her heat sniffing the wind! Who can restrain her lust? None who seek her need weary themselves; in her month they will find her.
  19. Cross References
    Isaiah 11:2
    And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
    Joel 2:28
    And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.
  20. Cross References
    Isaiah 35:1 - 2
    The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus.
    Isaiah 29:17
    Is it not yet a very little while until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest?
  21. Cross References
    James 3:18
    And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
    Isaiah 1:27
    Zion shall be redeemed by justice, and those in her who repent, by righteousness.
    Psalms 72:3
    Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people, and the hills, in righteousness!
    Psalms 119:165
    Great peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble.
  22. Cross References
    Isaiah 28:2
    Behold, the Lord has one who is mighty and strong; like a storm of hail, a destroying tempest, like a storm of mighty, overflowing waters, he casts down to the earth with his hand.
    Isaiah 28:17
    And I will make justice the line, and righteousness the plumb line; and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and waters will overwhelm the shelter.
  23. Cross References
    Isaiah 26:5
    For he has humbled the inhabitants of the height, the lofty city. He lays it low, lays it low to the ground, casts it to the dust.
  24. Cross References
    Ecclesiastes 11:1
    Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days.
    Isaiah 30:23
    And he will give rain for the seed with which you sow the ground, and bread, the produce of the ground, which will be rich and plenteous. In that day your livestock will graze in large pastures.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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