Isaiah 32

A King Who Reigns in Righteousness

A righteous King becomes a shelter from the storm, true names are restored to things, and the Spirit is poured out until the desert bears fruit.

c. 701 BC, with a vision of the messianic age Read with footnotes in Gospel Library

Background

After four chapters of woes, Isaiah 32 opens with a bright picture: “Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness.”

After four chapters of woes, Isaiah 32 opens with a bright picture: “Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness.” Some readers see a hope for King Hezekiah here. Most, including many ancient Jewish and Christian interpreters, see the ideal King of Isa. 9:6–7 and Isa. 11:1–5, the Messiah.

The chapter has three movements: the righteous King and the transformation His reign brings (verses 1–8); a warning to the complacent women of Jerusalem (verses 9–14); and the outpouring of the Spirit, which turns the desert into a fruitful field and brings lasting peace (verses 15–20).

The thread through the chapter

Isaiah 32 is about what makes a society right, and its answer moves from the top, to the heart, to the Spirit.

Isaiah 32 is about what makes a society right, and its answer moves from the top, to the heart, to the Spirit.

It begins with righteous leadership (verses 1–2). A King reigns in righteousness, and His rulers judge justly. The King Himself is like shelter in a storm, water in a desert, and the shade of a great rock in a weary land. Good leadership, in Isaiah’s view, is protective and refreshing, not oppressive.

Then comes clear sight and honest words (verses 3–8). Under this King, the blindness of Isa. 6:9–10 is reversed: eyes see and ears hear. And things get their true names back. “The vile person shall be no more called liberal” (verse 5), meaning noble. A scoundrel won’t be praised as generous anymore. Isaiah had condemned people who “call evil good, and good evil” (Isa. 5:20). In the King’s reign, words mean what they say again.

Then comes a jolt: a warning to the “women that are at ease” (verses 9–14). These are the comfortable, complacent people of Jerusalem, who assume life will go on as it always has. Within a year the harvest will fail, and the joyous city will be abandoned.

The chapter’s final answer is the Spirit (verses 15–20). The desolation lasts “until the spirit be poured upon us from on high.” Then the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, justice lives even in the wilderness, and “the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever” (verse 17).

Righteous leaders matter, and honest words matter. But lasting peace comes only when the Spirit is poured out and righteousness grows from the inside.

Tap any highlighted phrase to open a note beneath its versein the margin.

Verses 1–8

The righteous King

In plain words

Look! A king will reign in righteousness, and his officials will rule with justice. Each one will be like a shelter from the wind, a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in a desert, like the shade of a huge rock in a parched land. Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed, and the ears of those who hear will listen. The hasty will think things through, and the stammering tongue will speak clearly. No longer will fools be called noble or scoundrels be treated with respect. For fools speak foolishness and plan evil. They practice ungodliness, spread error about the Lord, leave the hungry empty, and withhold water from the thirsty. The scoundrel’s methods are wicked; he schemes to ruin the poor with lies, even when the needy plead their just cause. But the noble person makes noble plans and stands firm in noble deeds.

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

Witness of Christ #

A King who reigns in righteousness

This King fits the pattern of the messianic King Isaiah has already described: the child on David’s throne who establishes it “with judgment and with justice” (Isa. 9:7), and the…

This King fits the pattern of the messianic King Isaiah has already described: the child on David’s throne who establishes it “with judgment and with justice” (Isa. 9:7), and the branch of Jesse who judges the poor “with righteousness” (Isa. 11:4). Righteous Hezekiah may have been a partial, near-term reflection of that ideal, but the full picture points to Christ.

Latter-day scripture promises that the Savior will “reign in righteousness” personally during the Millennium: “I will be your king and watch over you” (D&C 38:21–22; see D&C 45:59; A of F 1:10).

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.

Witness of Christ #

The shadow of a great rock

This verse gives four pictures of what the righteous King is to His people: - a hiding place from the wind, - a covert from the tempest (a place to take cover from a storm), -…

This verse gives four pictures of what the righteous King is to His people:

a hiding place from the wind,
a covert from the tempest (a place to take cover from a storm),
rivers of water in a dry place,
the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.

Anyone who has walked in the desert knows the relief of finding shade beside a great rock at midday. It is shelter, rest, and life. Isaiah has used similar images before (Isa. 4:6; Isa. 25:4). Latter-day Saints think of Christ as the Rock (Hel. 5:12; 1 Cor. 10:4), and the Lord told the Saints that His stakes would be “a refuge from the storm” (D&C 115:6).

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

Restoration Insight #

The blindness reversed

This deliberately reverses Isaiah’s commission in chapter 6, where his preaching was to make eyes shut and ears heavy (Isa. 6:9–10).

This deliberately reverses Isaiah’s commission in chapter 6, where his preaching was to make eyes shut and ears heavy (Isa. 6:9–10). It also reverses the stammering tongue of Isa. 28:11. Under the righteous King, spiritual perception is restored: eyes see, ears hear, the rash understand, and the stammering speak plainly.

Nephi described the latter-day Restoration the same way: “the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness” (2 Ne. 27:29). The Lord promised Joseph Smith that the Holy Ghost would reveal to the faithful “great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures” (D&C 89:19; see D&C 76:5–10).

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.

Word & Language #

Things get their true names back

In 1611 English, liberal meant noble or generous, and a churl was a mean, stingy scoundrel.

In 1611 English, liberal meant noble or generous, and a churl was a mean, stingy scoundrel. Isaiah is describing a society in which moral labels have been scrambled: a nabal (fool, vile person) is honored as noble, and a cheat is praised as generous.

Isaiah condemned that confusion in Isa. 5:20: “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil.” Under the righteous King, labels will be honest again. There is a lovely echo of David’s story. The Hebrew word for “vile person” is nabal, the name of the churlish rich man who refused to help David (1 Sam. 25:25: “as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him”).

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.

Verses 9–14

The complacent women

In plain words

You women who are so at ease, get up and listen to me! You carefree daughters, hear what I say! In a little more than a year you carefree ones will tremble, because the grape harvest will fail and the fruit will not come in. Tremble, you complacent women; shudder, you who feel secure! Strip off your fine clothes and put sackcloth around your waists. Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields and the fruitful vines, for the land of my people, overgrown with thorns and briers, and for all the happy homes in this joyful city. The palace will be abandoned and the busy city deserted. The fortress and watchtower will become wastelands forever, the delight of donkeys and a pasture for flocks.

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

Liken It #

At ease in Zion

These are the wealthy, comfortable women of Jerusalem, similar to the “daughters of Zion” of Isa. 3:16–24.

These are the wealthy, comfortable women of Jerusalem, similar to the “daughters of Zion” of Isa. 3:16–24. The words “at ease” and “careless” (literally confident, secure) aren’t evil in themselves. The problem is a false sense of security, the assumption that the good times will simply continue.

Amos gave the same warning: “Woe to them that are at ease in Zion” (Amos 6:1). Nephi quoted it in his warning about the last days: “wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion! Wo be unto him that crieth: All is well!” (2 Ne. 28:24–25). Complacency is one of the quietest and most dangerous spiritual conditions.

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;

Verses 15–20

The Spirit poured out

In plain words

This will last until the Spirit is poured out on us from on high, and the desert becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field seems like a forest. Then justice will live in the desert, and righteousness will dwell in the fertile field. The fruit of righteousness will be peace; its effect will be quietness and confidence forever. My people will live in peaceful homes, in secure dwellings, in undisturbed places of rest, even though hail flattens the forest and the city is leveled completely. How blessed you will be, sowing your seed by every stream and letting your cattle and donkeys range freely.

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.

Restoration Insight #

The Spirit poured out

The turning point of the chapter is the outpouring of the Spirit “from on high.”

The turning point of the chapter is the outpouring of the Spirit “from on high.” Until then there is desolation; after it, the desert becomes a fruitful field. Joel prophesied the same: “I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh” (Joel 2:28–29). Peter declared it fulfilled at Pentecost (Acts 2:16–18), and Moroni told Joseph Smith that Joel’s prophecy “was not yet fulfilled, but was soon to be” (JS—H 1:41).

Isaiah returns to the promise later: “I will pour water upon him that is thirsty… I will pour my spirit upon thy seed” (Isa. 44:3). Latter-day Saints believe the Restoration brought a great latter-day outpouring of the Spirit, including the dedication of the Kirtland Temple, when many saw visions and angels (D&C 109:36–37; D&C 110).

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.

Liken It #

The fruit of righteousness is peace

This is one of the most peaceful verses in scripture. The “work,” the product, of righteousness is peace (shalom).

This is one of the most peaceful verses in scripture. The “work,” the product, of righteousness is peace (shalom). Its “effect,” its service or result, is quietness and assurance, meaning calm and confidence, “for ever.”

It’s a simple statement of cause and effect. Peace isn’t mainly the result of circumstances; it’s the fruit of righteousness. Alma put it the other way around: “wickedness never was happiness” (Alma 41:10). The Lord said, “he who doeth the works of righteousness shall receive his reward, even peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come” (D&C 59:23).

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

Restoration Insight #

Peaceable homes

Three phrases for home: a “peaceable habitation,” “sure dwellings,” and “quiet resting places.”

Three phrases for home: a “peaceable habitation,” “sure dwellings,” and “quiet resting places.” This is what the Lord wants for His people, homes where peace lives. Verse 19 adds that this peace holds even when hail flattens the forest and the city is laid low. The peace doesn’t depend on the storm stopping.

“The Family: A Proclamation to the World” teaches that “happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ.” The peaceable habitation of verse 18 is the fruit of the righteousness of verse 17.

Sources: “The Family: A Proclamation to the World”, First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, 1995.

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.

Seeing Christ in Isaiah 32

Jesus Christ is the King who reigns in righteousness (verse 1) and the one who will personally reign on the earth during the Millennium (D&C 45:59). He is the hiding place from the wind, the covert from the tempest, the rivers of water in a dry place, and the shadow of a great rock in a weary land (verse 2).

He is also the source of the Spirit “poured upon us from on high” (verse 15). He promised His disciples the Comforter (John 14:16–18; 3 Ne. 19:9–13), and the peace that is “the work of righteousness” (verse 17) is His peace (John 14:27).

Liken it to yourself

Who in my life needs me to be a “hiding place from the wind” right now? How could I be a shelter for them?
Are there “vile persons called liberal” in the culture around me, things praised that shouldn’t be, or good things mocked? How can I call things by their true names with kindness?
Am I “at ease in Zion” in any way, comfortable in a way that has made me careless?
Verse 17 says peace is the work of righteousness. Where am I seeking peace through circumstances instead of through righteousness?

Worth exploring next

The Spirit poured out. Compare Isaiah 32:15 with Isa. 44:3, Joel 2:28–32, Acts 2:1–18, and JS—H 1:41.
At ease in Zion. Read Amos 6:1–7 and 2 Ne. 28:20–25 with Isaiah 32:9–14.

Sources & further reading

Chapter 15: Prophecies of the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times (Isaiah 24–35), Old Testament Student Manual: 1 Kings–Malachi (2003).
Donald W. Parry, Jay A. Parry, and Tina M. Peterson, Understanding Isaiah, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1998.
John N. Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah, New International Commentary on the Old Testament, 2 vols. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986–1998.

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