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Isaiah 32
The Message
Isaiah 32
The Message
Safe Houses, Quiet Gardens
32 1-8 But look! A king will rule in the right way,
and his leaders will carry out justice.
Each one will stand as a shelter from high winds,
provide safe cover in stormy weather.
Each will be cool running water in parched land,
a huge granite outcrop giving shade in the desert.
Anyone who looks will see,
anyone who listens will hear.
The impulsive will make sound decisions,
the tongue-tied will speak with eloquence.
No more will fools become celebrities,
nor crooks be rewarded with fame.
For fools are fools and that’s that,
thinking up new ways to do mischief.
They leave a wake of wrecked lives
and lies about God,
Turning their backs on the homeless hungry,
ignoring those dying of thirst in the streets.
And the crooks? Underhanded sneaks they are,
inventive in sin and scandal,
Exploiting the poor with scams and lies,
unmoved by the victimized poor.
But those who are noble make noble plans,
and stand for what is noble.
* * *
9-14 Take your stand, idle women!
Listen to me!
Indulgent, idle women,
listen closely to what I have to say.
In just a little over a year from now,
you’ll be shaken out of your lazy lives.
The grape harvest will fail,
and there’ll be no fruit on the trees.
Oh tremble, you idle women.
Get serious, you pampered dolls!
Strip down and discard your silk fineries.
Put on funeral clothes.
Shed honest tears for the lost harvest,
the failed vintage.
Weep for my people’s gardens and farms
that grow nothing but thistles and thornbushes.
Cry tears, real tears, for the happy homes no longer happy,
the merry city no longer merry.
The royal palace is deserted,
the bustling city quiet as a morgue,
The emptied parks and playgrounds
taken over by wild animals,
delighted with their new home.
15-20 Yes, weep and grieve until the Spirit is poured
down on us from above
And the badlands desert grows crops
and the fertile fields become forests.
Justice will move into the badlands desert.
Right will build a home in the fertile field.
And where there’s Right, there’ll be Peace
and the progeny of Right: quiet lives and endless trust.
My people will live in a peaceful neighborhood—
in safe houses, in quiet gardens.
The forest of your pride will be clear-cut,
the city showing off your power leveled.
But you will enjoy a fortunate life,
planting well-watered fields and gardens,
with your farm animals grazing freely.
Isaiah 32
New International Version
Isaiah 32
New International Version
The Kingdom of Righteousness
32 See, a king(A) will reign in righteousness
and rulers will rule with justice.(B)
2 Each one will be like a shelter(C) from the wind
and a refuge from the storm,(D)
like streams of water(E) in the desert(F)
and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land.
3 Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed,(G)
and the ears(H) of those who hear will listen.
4 The fearful heart will know and understand,(I)
and the stammering tongue(J) will be fluent and clear.
5 No longer will the fool(K) be called noble
nor the scoundrel be highly respected.
6 For fools speak folly,(L)
their hearts are bent on evil:(M)
They practice ungodliness(N)
and spread error(O) concerning the Lord;
the hungry they leave empty(P)
and from the thirsty they withhold water.
7 Scoundrels use wicked methods,(Q)
they make up evil schemes(R)
to destroy the poor with lies,
even when the plea of the needy(S) is just.(T)
8 But the noble make noble plans,
and by noble deeds(U) they stand.(V)
The Women of Jerusalem
9 You women(W) who are so complacent,
rise up and listen(X) to me;
you daughters who feel secure,(Y)
hear what I have to say!
10 In little more than a year(Z)
you who feel secure will tremble;
the grape harvest will fail,(AA)
and the harvest of fruit will not come.
11 Tremble,(AB) you complacent women;
shudder, you daughters who feel secure!(AC)
Strip off your fine clothes(AD)
and wrap yourselves in rags.(AE)
12 Beat your breasts(AF) for the pleasant fields,
for the fruitful vines(AG)
13 and for the land of my people,
a land overgrown with thorns and briers(AH)—
yes, mourn(AI) for all houses of merriment
and for this city of revelry.(AJ)
14 The fortress(AK) will be abandoned,
the noisy city deserted;(AL)
citadel and watchtower(AM) will become a wasteland forever,
the delight of donkeys,(AN) a pasture for flocks,(AO)
15 till the Spirit(AP) is poured on us from on high,
and the desert becomes a fertile field,(AQ)
and the fertile field seems like a forest.(AR)
16 The Lord’s justice(AS) will dwell in the desert,(AT)
his righteousness(AU) live in the fertile field.
17 The fruit of that righteousness(AV) will be peace;(AW)
its effect will be quietness and confidence(AX) forever.
18 My people will live in peaceful(AY) dwelling places,
in secure homes,(AZ)
in undisturbed places of rest.(BA)
19 Though hail(BB) flattens the forest(BC)
and the city is leveled(BD) completely,
20 how blessed you will be,
sowing(BE) your seed by every stream,(BF)
and letting your cattle and donkeys range free.(BG)
Isaiah 32
King James Version
Isaiah 32
King James Version
32 Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment.
2 And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.
3 And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken.
4 The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly.
5 The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said to be bountiful.
6 For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against the Lord, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.
7 The instruments also of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right.
8 But the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand.
9 Rise up, ye women that are at ease; hear my voice, ye careless daughters; give ear unto my speech.
10 Many days and years shall ye be troubled, ye careless women: for the vintage shall fail, the gathering shall not come.
11 Tremble, ye women that are at ease; be troubled, ye careless ones: strip you, and make you bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins.
12 They shall lament for the teats, for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine.
13 Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city:
14 Because the palaces shall be forsaken; the multitude of the city shall be left; the forts and towers shall be for dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks;
15 Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest.
16 Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field.
17 And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.
18 And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places;
19 When it shall hail, coming down on the forest; and the city shall be low in a low place.
20 Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass.
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.