Isaiah 32-33

New King James Version

A Reign of Righteousness

32 Behold, ^(A)a king will reign in righteousness,
And princes will rule with justice.
²A man will be as a hiding place from the wind,
And ^(B)a ^[a]cover from the tempest,
As rivers of water in a dry place,
As the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.
³^(C)The eyes of those who see will not be dim,
And the ears of those who hear will listen.
⁴Also the heart of the ^[b]rash will ^(D)understand knowledge,
And the tongue of the stammerers will be ready to speak plainly.

⁵The foolish person will no longer be called ^[c]generous,
Nor the miser said to be bountiful;
⁶For the foolish person will speak foolishness,
And his heart will work ^(E)iniquity:
To practice ungodliness,
To utter error against the Lord,
To keep the hungry unsatisfied,
And he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.
⁷Also the schemes of the schemer are evil;
He devises wicked plans
To destroy the poor with ^(F)lying words,
Even when the needy speaks justice.
⁸But a ^[d]generous man devises generous things,
And by generosity he shall stand.

Consequences of Complacency

⁹Rise up, you women ^(G)who are at ease,
Hear my voice;
You complacent daughters,
Give ear to my speech.
¹⁰In a year and some days
You will be troubled, you complacent women;
For the vintage will fail,
The gathering will not come.
¹¹Tremble, you women who are at ease;
Be troubled, you complacent ones;
Strip yourselves, make yourselves bare,
And gird sackcloth on your waists.

¹²People shall mourn upon their breasts
For the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine.
¹³^(H)On the land of my people will come up thorns and briers,
Yes, on all the happy homes in ^(I)the joyous city;
¹⁴^(J)Because the palaces will be forsaken,
The bustling city will be deserted.
The forts and towers will become lairs forever,
A joy of wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks—
¹⁵Until ^(K)the Spirit is poured upon us from on high,
And ^(L)the wilderness becomes a fruitful field,
And the fruitful field is counted as a forest.

The Peace of God’s Reign

¹⁶Then justice will dwell in the wilderness,
And righteousness remain in the fruitful field.
¹⁷^(M)The work of righteousness will be peace,
And the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever.
¹⁸My people will dwell in a peaceful habitation,
In secure dwellings, and in quiet ^(N)resting places,
¹⁹^(O)Though hail comes down ^(P)on the forest,
And the city is brought low in humiliation.

²⁰Blessed are you who sow beside all waters,
Who send out freely the feet of ^(Q)the ox and the donkey.

A Prayer in Deep Distress

33 Woe to you ^(R)who plunder, though you have not been plundered;
And you who deal treacherously, though they have not dealt treacherously with you!
^(S)When you cease plundering,
You will be ^(T)plundered;
When you make an end of dealing treacherously,
They will deal treacherously with you.

²O Lord, be gracious to us;
^(U)We have waited for You.
Be ^[e]their arm every morning,
Our salvation also in the time of trouble.
³At the noise of the tumult the people ^(V)shall flee;
When You lift Yourself up, the nations shall be scattered;
⁴And Your plunder shall be gathered
Like the gathering of the caterpillar;
As the running to and fro of locusts,
He shall run upon them.

⁵^(W)The Lord is exalted, for He dwells on high;
He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.
⁶Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times,
And the strength of salvation;
The fear of the Lord is His treasure.

⁷Surely their valiant ones shall cry outside,
^(X)The ambassadors of peace shall weep bitterly.
⁸^(Y)The highways lie waste,
The traveling man ceases.
^(Z)He has broken the covenant,
^[f]He has despised the ^[g]cities,
He regards no man.
⁹^(AA)The earth mourns and languishes,
Lebanon is shamed and shriveled;
Sharon is like a wilderness,
And Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits.

Impending Judgment on Zion

¹⁰“Now^(AB) I will rise,” says the Lord;
“Now I will be exalted,
Now I will lift Myself up.
¹¹^(AC)You shall conceive chaff,
You shall bring forth stubble;
Your breath, as fire, shall devour you.
¹²And the people shall be like the burnings of lime;
^(AD)Like thorns cut up they shall be burned in the fire.
¹³Hear, ^(AE)you who are afar off, what I have done;
And you who are near, acknowledge My might.”

¹⁴The sinners in Zion are afraid;
Fearfulness has seized the hypocrites:
“Who among us shall dwell with the devouring ^(AF)fire?
Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?”
¹⁵He who ^(AG)walks righteously and speaks uprightly,
He who despises the gain of oppressions,
Who gestures with his hands, refusing bribes,
Who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed,
And ^(AH)shuts his eyes from seeing evil:
¹⁶He will dwell on ^[h]high;
His place of defense will be the fortress of rocks;
Bread will be given him,
His water will be sure.

The Land of the Majestic King

¹⁷Your eyes will see the King in His ^(AI)beauty;
They will see the land that is very far off.
¹⁸Your heart will meditate on terror:
^(AJ)“Where is the scribe?
Where is he who weighs?
Where is he who counts the towers?”
¹⁹^(AK)You will not see a fierce people,
^(AL)A people of obscure speech, beyond perception,
Of a ^[i]stammering tongue that you cannot understand.

²⁰^(AM)Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts;
Your eyes will see ^(AN)Jerusalem, a quiet home,
A tabernacle that will not be taken down;
^(AO)Not one of ^(AP)its stakes will ever be removed,
Nor will any of its cords be broken.
²¹But there the majestic Lord will be for us
A place of broad rivers and streams,
In which no ^[j]galley with oars will sail,
Nor majestic ships pass by
²²(For the Lord is our ^(AQ)Judge,
The Lord is our ^(AR)Lawgiver,
^(AS)The Lord is our King;
He will save us);
²³Your tackle is loosed,
They could not strengthen their mast,
They could not spread the sail.

Then the prey of great plunder is divided;
The lame take the prey.
²⁴And the inhabitant will not say, “I am sick”;
^(AT)The people who dwell in it will be forgiven their iniquity.