Isaiah 32:16

32:15 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.

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

KJV

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Then justice will dwell in the wilderness; and righteousness will remain in the fruitful field.

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

32:17 And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.

What does Isaiah 32:16 mean?

Isaiah 32:16 is a verse in the book of Isaiah, in the Old Testament. In the original Hebrew, key words include מִשְׁפָּט (mishpâṭ), שָׁכַן (shâkan), מִדְבָּר (midbâr). It connects to 7 cross-referenced passages elsewhere in Scripture.

Hebrew interlinear

Then

judgmentמִשְׁפָּטmishpâṭ/mish-pawt'/H4941properly, a verdict (favorable or unfavorable) pronounced judicially, especially a sentence or formal decree (human or (participant's) divine law, individual or collective), including the act, the place, the suit, the crime, and the penalty; abstractly, justice, including a participant's right or privilege (statutory or customary), or even a style

shall

dwellשָׁכַןshâkan/shaw-kan'/H7931to reside or permanently stay (literally or figuratively)

the

wilderness,מִדְבָּרmidbâr/mid-bawr'/H4057a pasture (i.e. open field, whither cattle are driven); by implication, a desert; also speech (including its organs)

and

righteousnessצְדָקָהtsᵉdâqâh/tsed-aw-kaw'/H6666rightness (abstractly), subjectively (rectitude), objectively (justice), morally (virtue) or figuratively (prosperity)

remainיָשַׁבyâshab/yaw-shab'/H3427properly, to sit down (specifically as judge. in ambush, in quiet); by implication, to dwell, to remain; causatively, to settle, to marry

the

fruitful

field.כַּרְמֶלkarmel/kar-mel'/H3759a planted field (garden, orchard, vineyard or park); by implication, garden produce

Commentary on Isaiah 32:16

HENRY_FULL · Isaiah 32:15–16

caps">Lord is strength to the upright: but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity. 30 The righteous shall never be removed: but the wicked shall not inhabit the earth. These two verses are to the same purport with those next before, intimating the happiness of the godly and the misery of the wicked; it is necessary that this be inculcated upon us, so loth are we to believe and consider it. 1. Strength and stability are entailed upon integrity: The way of the Lord (the providence of God, the way in which he walks towards us) is strength to the upright, confirms him in his uprightness. All God's dealings with him, merciful and afflictive, serve to quicken him to his duty and animate him against his discouragements. Or the way of the Lord (the way of godliness, in which he appoints us to walk) is strength to the upright; the closer we keep to that way, the more our hearts are enlarged to proceed in it, the better fitted we are both for services and sufferings. A good conscience, kept pure from sin, gives a man boldness in a dangerous time, and constant diligence in duty makes a man's work easy in a busy time. The more we do for God the more we may do, Job xvii. 9 . That joy of the Lord which is to be found only in the way of the Lord will be our strength ( Neh. viii. 10 ), and therefore the righteous shall never be removed. Those that have an established virtue have an established peace and happiness which nothing can rob them of; they have an everlasting foundation, v. 25 . 2. Ruin and destruction are the certain consequences of wickedness. The wicked shall not only not inherit the earth, though they lay up their treasure in it, but they shall not so much as inhabit the earth; God's judgments will root them out. Destruction, swift and sure destruction, shall be to the workers of iniquity, destruction from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his power. Nay, that way of the Lord which is the strength of the upright is consumption and terror to the workers of iniquity; the same gospel which to the one is a savour of life unto life to the other is a savour of death unto death; the same providence, like the same sun, softens the one and hardens the other, Hos. xiv. 9 . 31 The mouth of the just bringeth

Cross-references

Related passages from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

Ecclesiastes 12:10

The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth. acceptable: Heb. words of delight

Isaiah 11:11

And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.

Isaiah 12:6

Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee. inhabitant: Heb. inhabitress

Isaiah 15:2

He is gone up to Bajith, and to Dibon, the high places, to weep: Moab shall howl over Nebo, and over Medeba: on all their heads shall be baldness, and every beard cut off.

Isaiah 18:6

They shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them.

Daniel 4:27

Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity. a lengthening: or, an healing of thine error

Titus 2:8

Sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you.

Topics

Righteousness

Verses like this

Other verses that share key original-language words with Isaiah 32:16.

Genesis 18:19

For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.

Genesis 21:20

And God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.

Genesis 21:21

And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran: and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt.

Frequently asked questions

What does Isaiah 32:16 say?

Isaiah 32:16 (King James Version) reads: "Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field."

Is Isaiah 32:16 in the Old or New Testament?

Isaiah 32:16 is in the Old Testament of the Bible, in the book of Isaiah.

Reflect

As you read Isaiah 32:16, what is one truth here you can carry into today?

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