Isaiah 32:1-20 AMPC

[1] Behold, a King will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule with justice. [2] And each one of them shall be like a hiding place from the wind and a shelter from the storm, like streams of water in a dry place, like the shade of a great rock in a weary land [to those who turn to them]. [3] Then the eyes of those who see will not be closed or dimmed, and the ears of those who hear will listen. [4] And the mind of the rash will understand knowledge and have good judgment, and the tongue of the stammerers will speak readily and plainly. [5] The fool (the unbeliever and the ungodly) will no more be called noble, nor the crafty and greedy [for gain] said to be bountiful and princely. [6] For the fool speaks folly and his mind plans iniquity: practicing profane ungodliness and speaking error concerning the Lord, leaving the craving of the hungry unsatisfied and causing the drink of the thirsty to fail. [7] The instruments and methods of the fraudulent and greedy [for gain] are evil; he devises wicked devices to ruin the poor and the lowly with lying words, even when the plea of the needy is just and right. [8] But the noble, openhearted, and liberal man devises noble things; and he stands for what is noble, openhearted, and generous. [9] Rise up, you women who are at ease! Hear my [Isaiah's] voice, you confident and careless daughters! Listen to what I am saying! [10] In little more than a year you will be shaken with anxiety, you careless and complacent women; for the vintage will fail, and the ingathering will not come. [11] Tremble, you women who are at ease! Shudder with fear, you complacent ones! Strip yourselves bare and gird sackcloth upon your loins [in grief]! [12] They shall beat upon their breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine, [13] For the land of my people growing over with thorns and briers-yes, for all the houses of joy in the joyous city. [14] For the palace shall be forsaken, the populous city shall be deserted; the hill and the watchtower shall become dens [for wild animals] endlessly, a joy for wild donkeys, a pasture for flocks, [15] Until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is valued as a forest. [16] Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness (moral and spiritual rectitude in every area and relation) will abide in the fruitful field. [17] And the effect of righteousness will be peace [internal and external], and the result of righteousness will be quietness and confident trust forever. [18] My people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, in safe dwellings, and in quiet resting-places. [19] But it [the wrath of the Lord] shall hail, coming down overpoweringly on the forest [the army of the Assyrians], and the capital city shall be utterly humbled and laid prostrate. [20] Happy and fortunate are you who cast your seed upon all waters [when the river overflows its banks; for the seed will sink into the mud and when the waters subside, the plant will spring up; you will find it after many days and reap an abundant harvest], you who safely send forth the ox and the donkey [to range freely].