Isaiah 32-34

New American Standard Bible

The Glorious Future

32 Behold, a ^(A)king will reign righteously,
And officials will rule justly.
²Each will be like a ^(B)refuge from the wind
And a shelter from the storm,
Like ^[a]^(C)streams of water in a dry country,
Like the ^(D)shade of a ^[b]huge rock in an exhausted land.
³Then ^(E)the eyes of those who see will not be ^[c]blinded,
And the ears of those who hear will listen.
⁴The ^[d]mind of the ^(F)rash will discern the ^[e]truth,
And the tongue of the stammerers will hurry to speak clearly.
⁵No longer will the ^(G)fool be called noble,
Or the rogue be spoken of as generous.
⁶For a fool speaks nonsense,
And his heart ^[f]^(H)inclines toward wickedness:
To practice ^(I)ungodliness and to speak error against the Lord,
To ^[g]^(J)keep the hungry person unsatisfied
And ^[h]to withhold drink from the thirsty.
⁷As for a rogue, his weapons are evil;
He ^(K)devises wicked schemes
To ^(L)destroy the poor with ^[i]slander,
^(M)Even though the needy one speaks ^[j]what is right.
⁸But ^(N)the noble person devises noble plans;
And by noble plans he stands.

⁹Rise up, you ^(O)women who are at ease,
And hear my voice;
^(P)Listen to my word,
You complacent daughters.
¹⁰Within a year and a few days
You will be troubled, you complacent daughters;
^(Q)For the vintage is ended,
And the fruit gathering will not come.
¹¹Tremble, you women who are at ease;
^(R)Be troubled, you complacent daughters;
^(S)Strip, undress, and put sackcloth on your waist,
¹²^(T)Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine,
¹³^(U)For the land of my people in which thorns and briars will come up;
Indeed, for all the joyful houses and for the ^(V)jubilant city.
¹⁴For ^(W)the palace has been neglected, the ^[k]populated ^(X)city abandoned.
^[l]Hill and watch-tower have become ^(Y)caves forever,
A delight for ^(Z)wild donkeys, a pasture for flocks,
¹⁵Until the ^(AA)Spirit is poured out upon us from on high,
And the wilderness becomes a ^(AB)fertile field,
And the fertile field is considered as a forest.
¹⁶Then ^(AC)justice will dwell in the wilderness,
And righteousness will remain in the fertile field.
¹⁷And the ^(AD)work of righteousness will be peace,
And the service of righteousness, ^(AE)quietness and ^[m]confidence forever.
¹⁸Then my people will live in a ^(AF)peaceful settlement,
In secure dwellings, and in undisturbed ^(AG)resting places;
¹⁹And it will ^(AH)hail when the ^(AI)forest comes down,
And ^(AJ)the city will be utterly laid low.
²⁰How ^(AK)blessed will you be, you who sow beside all waters,
Who ^[n]let the ox and the donkey out freely.

The Judgment of God

33 Woe ^(AL)to you, destroyer,
While you were not destroyed;
And he ^(AM)who is treacherous, while others did not deal treacherously with him.
As soon as you finish destroying, ^(AN)you will be destroyed;
As soon as you cease to deal treacherously, others will ^(AO)deal treacherously with you.
²Lord, ^(AP)be gracious to us; we have ^(AQ)waited for You.
Be ^[o]their ^[p]^(AR)strength every morning,
Our salvation also in the ^(AS)time of distress.
³At the sound of a roar, ^(AT)peoples flee;
At the ^(AU)lifting up of Yourself, nations disperse.
⁴Your plunder is gathered as the caterpillar gathers;
Like an infestation of locusts, people storm it.
⁵The Lord is ^(AV)exalted, for He dwells on high;
He has ^(AW)filled Zion with justice and righteousness.
⁶And He will be the ^[q]^(AX)stability of your times,
A ^(AY)wealth of salvation, wisdom, and ^(AZ)knowledge;
The ^(BA)fear of the Lord is his treasure.
⁷Behold, their brave men cry out ^[r]in the streets,
The ^[s]^(BB)ambassadors of peace weep bitterly.
⁸The highways are desolate, ^[t]the ^(BC)traveler has ceased,
He has ^(BD)broken the covenant, he has despised the cities,
He has no regard for mankind.
⁹^(BE)The land mourns and wastes away,
^(BF)Lebanon is shamed and withers;
^(BG)Sharon is like a desert plain,
And Bashan and Carmel ^[u]lose their foliage.
¹⁰“Now ^(BH)I will arise,” says the Lord,
“Now I will be exalted, now I will be lifted up.
¹¹You have ^(BI)conceived ^[v]chaff, you will give birth to stubble;
^[w]My ^(BJ)breath will consume you like a fire.
¹²The peoples will be burned to lime,
^(BK)Like cut thorns which are burned in the fire.

¹³“You who are far away, ^(BL)hear what I have done;
And you who are near, ^[x]acknowledge My might.”
¹⁴^(BM)Sinners in Zion are terrified;
^(BN)Trembling has seized the godless.
“Who among us can live with ^(BO)the consuming fire?
Who among us can live with everlasting ^(BP)burning?”
¹⁵One who ^(BQ)walks righteously and speaks with integrity,
One who rejects ^[y]unjust gain
And shakes his hands so that they hold no bribe;
One who stops his ears from hearing about bloodshed
And ^(BR)shuts his eyes from looking at evil;
¹⁶He will dwell on the heights,
^(BS)His refuge will be the ^[z]impregnable rock;
^(BT)His bread will be given him,
His water will be sure.

¹⁷Your eyes will see ^(BU)the King in His beauty;
They will see ^(BV)a distant land.
¹⁸Your heart will meditate on ^(BW)terror:
“Where is ^(BX)one who counts?
Where is one who weighs?
Where is one who counts the towers?”
¹⁹You will no longer see a fierce people,
A people of ^[aa]^(BY)unintelligible speech ^[ab]which no one comprehends,
Of a stammering tongue ^[ac]which no one understands.
²⁰^(BZ)Look at Zion, the city of our appointed feasts;
Your eyes will see Jerusalem, an ^(CA)undisturbed settlement,
^(CB)A tent which will not be folded;
Its stakes will never be pulled up,
Nor any of its ropes be torn apart.
²¹But there the majestic One, the Lord, will be for us
A place of ^(CC)rivers and wide canals
On which no boat with oars will go,
And on which no mighty ship will pass—
²²For the Lord is our ^(CD)judge,
The Lord is ^(CE)our lawgiver,
The Lord is ^(CF)our king;
^(CG)He will save us—
²³Your ship’s tackle hangs slack;
It cannot hold the base of its mast firmly,
Nor spread out the sail.
Then the ^(CH)prey of an abundant spoil will be divided;
^(CI)Those who limp will take the plunder.
²⁴And no resident will say, “I am ^(CJ)sick”;
The people who live ^[ad]there will be ^(CK)forgiven their wrongdoing.

God’s Wrath against Nations

34 Come near, ^(CL)you nations, to hear; and listen, you peoples!
^(CM)Let the earth and ^[ae]all it contains hear, and the world and all that springs from it.
²For the Lord’s ^(CN)anger is against all the nations,
And His wrath against all their armies.
He has ^[af]^(CO)utterly destroyed them,
He has turned them over to ^(CP)slaughter.
³So their slain will be ^(CQ)thrown out,
And their corpses ^[ag]will give off their ^(CR)stench,
And the mountains will ^[ah]be drenched with their ^(CS)blood.
⁴And ^(CT)all the heavenly ^[ai]lights will ^[aj]wear away,
And the ^(CU)sky will be rolled up like a scroll;
All its ^[ak]lights will also wither away
As a leaf withers from the vine,
Or as one withers from the fig tree.
⁵For ^(CV)My sword has drunk its fill in heaven;
Behold it shall descend for judgment upon ^(CW)Edom,
And upon the people whom I have ^(CX)designated for destruction.
⁶The sword of the Lord is filled with blood,
It drips with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats,
With the fat of the kidneys of rams.
For the Lord has a sacrifice in ^(CY)Bozrah,
And a great slaughter in the land of ^(CZ)Edom.
⁷^(DA)Wild oxen will also ^[al]fall with them
And ^(DB)young bulls with strong ones;
So their land will be ^(DC)soaked with blood,
And their dust ^[am]become greasy with fat.
⁸For the Lord has a day of ^(DD)vengeance,
A year of retribution for the ^[an]cause of Zion.
⁹^[ao]Its streams will be turned into pitch,
And its loose earth into ^(DE)brimstone,
And its land will become burning pitch.
¹⁰It will ^(DF)not be extinguished night or day;
Its ^(DG)smoke will go up forever.
From ^(DH)generation to generation it will be desolate;
^(DI)None will pass through it forever and ever.
¹¹But ^[ap]^(DJ)pelican and hedgehog will possess it,
And ^[aq]owl and raven will dwell in it;
And He will stretch over it the ^(DK)line of ^[ar]desolation
And the ^[as]plumb line of emptiness.
¹²Its nobles—there is ^(DL)no one there
Whom they may proclaim king—
And all its officials will be ^(DM)nothing.
¹³Thorns will come up in its ^(DN)fortified towers,
Weeds and thistles in its fortified cities;
It will also be a haunt of ^(DO)jackals
And a habitat of ostriches.
¹⁴The desert ^(DP)creatures will meet with the ^[at]wolves,
The ^[au]^(DQ)goat also will cry to its kind.
Yes, the ^[av]night-bird will settle there
And will find herself a resting place.
¹⁵The tree snake will make its nest and lay eggs there,
And it will hatch and gather them under its ^[aw]protection.
Yes, ^(DR)the ^[ax]hawks will be gathered there,
Every one with its kind.

¹⁶Seek from the ^(DS)book of the Lord, and read:

Not one of these will be missing;
None will lack its mate.
For ^[ay]^(DT)His mouth has commanded,
And His Spirit has gathered them.
¹⁷He has cast the ^(DU)lot for them,
And His hand has divided it to them by the ^(DV)measuring line.
They shall possess it forever;
From ^(DW)generation to generation they will dwell in it.