Isaiah 32
1 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.
World Behind This Chapter
Explore the people, places, language, history, and material world connected to Isaiah 32.
What historical setting lies behind Isaiah 32?
No historical king is named; the chapter imagines transformed rule and social order.
How does Isaiah 32's royal ideal + wisdom/social reversal shape the chapter?
A righteous king, perceptive officials, overturned social labels, and spirit-transformed landscape move from governance to creation.
Who is the king who will reign in righteousness?
The poem does not name him. Interpretations range from an idealized Davidic monarch in Isaiah’s horizon to a future royal figure; later messianic readings build on that openness.
Sources to ExploreCurated research paths for this chapter 3
History & Daily Life1
- Royal Power and Justice in the Ancient Near EastThe Metropolitan Museum of Art
Illustrated discussion of ancient Near Eastern kingship, royal ideology, warfare, administration, and the ruler’s expected role in maintaining order. It provides comparative context for Isaiah 32’s opening vision of a king ruling in righteousness and officials governing justly.
Language & Literature2
- Complacent Women and the Personified LandSefaria
Presents the chapter’s Hebrew and English text, including its address to secure women and its portrayal of fields, houses, and the city sharing in social devastation. Readers can examine how agricultural ruin becomes a metaphor for political complacency and how renewal is described as wilderness becoming fruitful land.
- Four Similes for Protective LeadershipMechon Mamre
Presents the Hebrew behind Isaiah 32:2, where a just ruler is compared with shelter from wind, refuge from a storm, streams in dry country, and the shade of a massive rock. The accumulation of four similes develops one idea through progressively vivid images of safety.
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