Isaiah

Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment.

1Look! A king will reign and do what is right, and the leaders under him will rule fairly.

2And 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.

2Each of these leaders will be like a shelter from the wind and a hiding place from the storm. He will be like streams of water in a dry land, like the shade of a huge rock in a hot, tiring country.

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

3Then the eyes of people who can see will no longer be shut, and ears that can hear will truly listen.

4The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly.

4People who used to rush ahead without thinking will understand. People who stumbled over their words will speak clearly.

5The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said to be bountiful.

5No one will call a foolish person noble anymore. No one will say a greedy cheat is generous.

NoteIn 1611 English, "liberal" meant generous, and a "churl" was a stingy, mean-spirited person. The verse is about praise going to the wrong people.

6For 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.

6A fool says foolish things, and his mind plans evil. He pretends to be good, says false things about the LORD, leaves hungry people with nothing, and keeps water from the thirsty.

7The instruments also of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right.

7The greedy cheat uses harmful methods. He makes up schemes to ruin poor people with lies, even when the needy person is asking for what is fair.

8But the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand.

8But a generous person makes generous plans, and those plans are what he stands on.

9Rise up, ye women that are at ease; hear my voice, ye careless daughters; give ear unto my speech.

9Stand up, you women who live in comfort. Listen to me, you daughters who never worry. Pay attention to my words.

10Many days and years shall ye be troubled, ye careless women: for the vintage shall fail, the gathering shall not come.

10In a little more than a year you will shake with fear, you women who feel so safe. The grape harvest will fail, and no fruit will be gathered.

NoteThe KJV "many days and years" sounds like a long stretch of time. The Hebrew means something closer to "a year and some days from now" — that is, soon.

11Tremble, ye women that are at ease; be troubled, ye careless ones: strip you, and make you bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins.

11Shake with fear, you women who live in comfort. Tremble, you women who never worry. Take off your fine clothes and tie rough cloth around your waists.

NoteSackcloth was rough, scratchy cloth made from goat hair. People wore it to show deep grief.

12They shall lament for the teats, for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine.

12Beat your chests in grief for the good fields and for the vines that once hung full of fruit.

NoteThe KJV "lament for the teats" means beating your chest, which was how people showed sorrow out loud.

13Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city:

13Thorns and briers will grow over the land of my people, and over every happy house in the fun-loving city.

14Because 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;

14The palace will be left empty. The crowded city will be deserted. The hill and the watchtower will become bare caves forever, a place wild donkeys enjoy and flocks graze.

15Until 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.

15This lasts until God pours out his Spirit on us from above. Then the desert will turn into good farmland, and that farmland will look as thick as a forest.

16Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field.

16Then fair judging will live even out in the wild land, and right living will stay in the good fields.

17And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.

17Doing what is right will bring peace. It will bring quiet and safety that last forever.

18And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places;

18My people will live in a peaceful home, in houses that are safe, in quiet places of rest.

19When it shall hail, coming down on the forest; and the city shall be low in a low place.

19Even when hail comes down and flattens the forest, and the city is brought all the way low.

20Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass.

20You are blessed if you plant your seed beside every stream, and let your ox and your donkey roam free.