Isaiah 32

Berean Standard Bible

Chapter summary

Isaiah 32 opens by describing a righteous king and princes ruling with justice, serving as shelters and streams in a dry land. The text notes that seeing eyes, hearing ears, understanding minds, and clear speech will be restored, while fools and scoundrels will no longer be respected or considered noble. The chapter then addresses complacent and secure women, warning them that within a little over a year their grape and fruit harvests will fail, leading them to strip bare, put on sackcloth, and mourn over overgrown fields and abandoned palaces. This desolation will continue until the Spirit is poured out from on high, transforming the desert into a fruitful orchard and a forest where justice and righteousness dwell. Finally, the passage mentions that hail will level the forest and sink the city, while those who sow beside abundant waters and let their livestock range freely are described as blessed.

Summary automatically generated from the Bible text.

Words of Jesus in red

¹Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule with justice. ²Each will be like a shelter from the wind, a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in a dry land, like the shadow of a great rock in an arid land. ³Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed, and the ears of those who hear will listen. ⁴The mind of the rash will know and understand, and the stammering tongue will speak clearly and fluently. ⁵No longer will a fool be called noble, nor a scoundrel be respected. ⁶For a fool speaks foolishness; his mind plots iniquity. He practices ungodliness and speaks falsely about the LORD; he leaves the hungry empty and deprives the thirsty of drink. ⁷The weapons of the scoundrel are destructive; he hatches plots to destroy the poor with lies, even when the plea of the needy is just. ⁸But a noble man makes honorable plans; he stands up for worthy causes. ⁹Stand up, you complacent women; listen to me. Give ear to my word, you overconfident daughters. ¹⁰In a little more than a year you will tremble, O secure ones. For the grape harvest will fail and the fruit harvest will not arrive. ¹¹Shudder, you ladies of leisure; tremble, you daughters of complacency. Strip yourselves bare and put sackcloth around your waists. ¹²Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vines, ¹³and for the land of my people, overgrown with thorns and briers— even for every house of merriment in this city of revelry. ¹⁴For the palace will be forsaken, the busy city abandoned. The hill and the watchtower will become caves forever— the delight of wild donkeys and a pasture for flocks— ¹⁵until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high. Then the desert will be an orchard, and the orchard will seem like a forest. ¹⁶Then justice will inhabit the wilderness, and righteousness will dwell in the fertile field. ¹⁷The work of righteousness will be peace; the service of righteousness will be quiet confidence forever. ¹⁸Then my people will dwell in a peaceful place, in safe and secure places of rest. ¹⁹But hail will level the forest, and the city will sink to the depths. ²⁰Blessed are those who sow beside abundant waters, who let the ox and donkey range freely.

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Louis Segond 1910 and Berean Standard Bible: public domain. Cross references: open-cross-ref, Creative Commons BY 4.0.