Justice and Wisdom Will Prevail
32:1 Look, a king will promote
fairness,1
officials will promote justice.2
32:2 Each of them3
will be like a shelter from the wind,
and a refuge from a rainstorm;
like streams of water in a dry region,
and like the shade of a large cliff in a parched land.
32:3 Eyes4
will no longer be blind,5
and ears6
will be attentive.
32:4 The mind that acts rashly will possess discernment,7
and the tongue that stutters will speak with ease and clarity.
32:5 A fool will no longer be called honorable,
a deceiver will no longer be called principled.
32:6 For a fool speaks disgraceful things,8
his mind plans out sinful deeds.9
He commits godless deeds,10
and says misleading things about the LORD;
he gives the hungry nothing to satisfy their appetite,11
and gives the thirsty nothing to drink.12
32:7 A deceiver’s methods are evil,13
he dreams up evil plans,14
to ruin the poor with lies,
even when the needy are in the right.15
32:8 An honorable man makes honorable plans,
his honorable character gives him security.16
The Lord Will Give True Security
32:9 You complacent17
women,
get up and listen to me!
You carefree18
daughters,
pay attention to what I say!
32:10 In a year’s time19
you carefree ones will shake with fear,
for the grape20
harvest will fail,
and the fruit harvest will not arrive.
32:11 Tremble, you complacent ones!
Shake with fear, you carefree ones!
Strip off your clothes and expose yourselves,
put sackcloth on your waist!21
32:12 Mourn over the field,22
over the delightful fields,
and the fruitful vine!
32:13 Mourn23
over the land of my people,
which is overgrown with thorns and briers,
and over all the once happy houses24
in the city filled with revelry.25
32:14 For the fortress is neglected,
the once crowded26
city is abandoned.
Hill27
and watchtower
are permanently uninhabited.28
Wild donkeys love to go there,
and flocks graze there.29
32:15 This desolation will continue until new life
is poured out on us from heaven.30
Then the desert will become an orchard,
and the orchard will be considered a forest.31
32:16 Justice will settle down in the desert,
and fairness will live in the orchard.32
32:17 Fairness will produce peace,33
and result in lasting security.34
32:18 My people will live in peaceful settlements,
in secure homes,
and in safe quiet places.35
32:19 Even if the forest is destroyed,36
and the city is annihilated,37
32:20 you will be happy,
you who plant seed by all the banks of the streams,38
you who let your ox and donkey graze.39