Isaiah

A Righteous King

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 ungodlinessand speaks falsely about the LORD;he leaves the hungry emptyand 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.

The Women of Jerusalem

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 failand the fruit harvest will not arrive.

11Shudder, you ladies of leisure;tremble, you daughters of complacency.Strip yourselves bareand 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 merrimentin this city of revelry.

14For the palace will be forsaken,the busy city abandoned.The hilland the watchtower will become caves forever—the delight of wild donkeys and a pasture for flocks—

15until the Spirit is poured outupon 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.

1Behold a king shall reign in justice, and princes shell rule in judgment.

2And a man shall be as when one is hid from the wind, and hideth himself from a storm, as rivers of waters in drought, and the shadow of a rock that standeth out in a desert land.

3The eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken diligently.

4And the heart of fools shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of stammerers shall speak readily and plain.

5The fool shall no more be called prince: neither shall the deceitful be called great:

6For the fool will speak foolish things, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and speak to the Lord deceitfully, and to make empty the soul of the hungry, and take away drink from the thirsty.

7The vessels of the deceitful are most wicked: for he hath framed devices to destroy the meek, with lying words, when the poor man speaketh judgment.

8But the prince will devise such things as are worthy of a prince, and he shall stand above the rulers.

9Rise up, ye rich women, and hear my voice: ye confident daughters, give ear to my speech.

10For after days and a year, you that are confident shall be troubled: for the vintage is at an end, the gathering shall come no more.

11Be astonished, ye rich women, be troubled, ye confident ones: strip yen, and be confounded, gird your loins.

12Mourn for your breasts, for the delightful country, for the fruitful vineyard.

13Upon the land of my people shall thorns and briers come up: how much more upon all the houses of joy, of the city that rejoiced?

14For the house is forsaken, the multitude of the city is left, darkness and obscurity are come upon its dens for ever. A joy of wild asses, the pastures of flocks,

15Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high: and the desert shall be as a charmel, and charmel shall be counted for a forest.

16And judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and justice shall sit in charmel.

17And the work of justice shall be peace, and the service of justice quietness, and security for ever.

18And my people shall sit in the beauty of peace, and in the tabernacles of confidence, and in wealthy rest.

19But hail shall be in the descent of the forest, and the city shall be made very low.

20Blessed are ye that sow upon all waters, sending thither the foot of the ox and the ass.