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Isaiah 32

Isaiah sets righteous rule against corrupt leadership and careless ease, then traces lasting peace to the Spirit’s renewal and righteousness.

Isaiah announces a king who will reign in righteousness and rulers whose justice will shelter people like shade in a dry land. The king is not named. The prophet then addresses women living at ease, warning that failed harvests and a deserted city will replace their comfort. Desolation lasts until the Spirit is poured out from above. The closing vision joins renewed fields with justice, peace, and safe homes, while still speaking of destructive judgment.

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1Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in justice.
2A man shall be as a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the storm, as streams of water in a dry place, as the shade of a large rock in a weary land.
3The eyes of those who see will not be dim, and the ears of those who hear will listen.
4The heart of the rash will understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers will be ready to speak plainly.
5The fool will no longer be called noble, nor the scoundrel be highly respected.
6For the fool will speak folly, and his heart will work iniquity, to practice profanity, and to utter error against the LORD, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and to cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.
7The ways of the scoundrel are evil. He devises wicked plans to destroy the humble with lying words, even when the needy speaks right.
8But the noble devises noble things, and he will continue in noble things.
9Rise up, you women who are at ease! Hear my voice! You careless daughters, give ear to my speech!
10For days beyond a year you will be troubled, you careless women; for the vintage will fail. The harvest won’t come.
11Tremble, you women who are at ease! Be troubled, you careless ones! Strip yourselves, make yourselves naked, and put sackcloth on your waist.
12Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine.
13Thorns and briers will come up on my people’s land; yes, on all the houses of joy in the joyous city.
14For the palace will be forsaken. The populous city will be deserted. The hill and the watchtower will be for dens forever, a delight for wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks,
15until the Spirit is poured on us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is considered a forest.
16Then justice will dwell in the wilderness; and righteousness will remain in the fruitful field.
17The work of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever.
18My people will live in a peaceful habitation, in safe dwellings, and in quiet resting places,
19though hail flattens the forest, and the city is leveled completely.
20Blessed are you who sow beside all waters, who send out the feet of the ox and the donkey.
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Isaiah 32:15The outpouring of the Spirit marks the turn from abandoned land to fruitfulness, with justice taking root.
Isaiah 32:2Images of shelter, water, and shade show what righteous rule means for people exposed to danger and hardship.
Isaiah 32:17Peace grows from righteousness here, linking the chapter’s promise of safe homes to a society shaped by justice.
Where this chapter reaches

Joel and Acts share the promise of the Spirit poured out, while Psalm shares Isaiah’s images of shelter and refuge. Romans also connects righteousness with peace, a link that stands at the center of Isaiah’s vision of secure life.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

How does the contrast between the scoundrel and the noble person shape your view of good leadership?

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What difference do you see between the women’s ease and the peace promised after the Spirit comes?

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Questions people ask about Isaiah 32

Who is the king in Isaiah 32?

The chapter does not name the king or identify a particular reign. It describes his righteousness and the justice of his princes, followed by clearer understanding and the exposure of fools and scoundrels. Christians understand this vision as pointing toward Christ’s righteous kingship, though the text leaves the king unnamed.

Why does Isaiah 32 warn women who are at ease?

The women addressed are secure in their comfort while disaster approaches. Isaiah warns that the grape harvest will fail and the land will grow thorns. Their ease will turn to mourning as the city is deserted. The passage targets careless confidence among these women; it does not condemn all women.

What does the Spirit being poured out mean in Isaiah 32:15?

The Spirit’s outpouring is God’s act that ends the land’s desolation and brings renewal. Isaiah describes wilderness becoming fruitful, followed by justice and righteousness dwelling there. The result is peace and secure homes for God’s people. The chapter does not specify a date or describe how the outpouring will occur.

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Isaiah · 66 chapters
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).