Isaiah 32 — NETB

32Verse 1Look, a king will promote fairness;
officials will promote justice.
^{Verse 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.
^{Verse 3}Eyes will no longer be blind
and ears will be attentive.
^{Verse 4}The mind that acts rashly will possess discernment
and the tongue that stutters will speak with ease and clarity.
^{Verse 5}A fool will no longer be called honorable;
a deceiver will no longer be called principled.
^{Verse 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.
^{Verse 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.
^{Verse 8}An honorable man makes honorable plans;
his honorable character gives him security.

The Lord Will Give True Security

^{Verse 9}You complacent women,
get up and listen to me!
You carefree daughters,
pay attention to what I say!
^{Verse 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.
^{Verse 11}Tremble, you complacent ones!
Shake with fear, you carefree ones!
Strip off your clothes and expose yourselves –
put sackcloth on your waist!
^{Verse 12}Mourn over the field,
over the delightful fields
and the fruitful vine!
^{Verse 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.
^{Verse 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.
^{Verse 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.
^{Verse 16}Justice will settle down in the desert
and fairness will live in the orchard.
^{Verse 17}Fairness will produce peace
and result in lasting security.
^{Verse 18}My people will live in peaceful settlements,
in secure homes,
and in safe, quiet places.
^{Verse 19}Even if the forest is destroyed
and the city is annihilated,
^{Verse 20}you will be blessed,
you who plant seed by all the banks of the streams,
you who let your ox and donkey graze.