Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, And righteousness remain in the fruitful field.
Parallel translations
- WEB Then justice will dwell in the wilderness; and righteousness will remain in the fruitful field.
- KJV Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field.
- BSB Then justice will inhabit the wilderness, and righteousness will dwell in the fertile field.
- NASB Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, And righteousness will remain in the fertile field.
- NLT Justice will rule in the wilderness and righteousness in the fertile field.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Then justice will dwell in the wilderness and righteousness in the fruitful field. It matters because the Spirit's outpouring establishes justice and righteousness everywhere.
Overview
With the Spirit poured out, justice and righteousness pervade both wild and cultivated land. The renewal is moral as well as material. This pictures the comprehensive transformation of the Spirit-filled age, where God's character marks His people and His world under the reign of the righteous King.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Isa 42:4He will not fail nor be discouraged, until he has set justice in the earth, and the islands will wait for his law.”
- Isa 56:6–8Also the foreigners who join themselves to Yahweh, to serve him, and to love Yahweh’s name, to be his servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath from profaning it, and holds fast my covenant;
- Ps 94:14–15For Yahweh won’t reject his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance.
- Hos 3:5Afterward the children of Israel shall return, and seek Yahweh their God, and David their king, and shall come with trembling to Yahweh and to his blessings in the last days.
- 1 Cor 6:9–11Or don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s Kingdom? Don’t be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor male prostitutes, nor homosexuals,
- Titus 2:11–12For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men,
- 1 Pet 4:1–4Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind; for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin;
- 1 Pet 2:9–12But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:
- Isa 60:21Then your people will all be righteous. They will inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified.
- Isa 35:8A highway will be there, a road, and it will be called The Holy Way. The unclean shall not pass over it, but it will be for those who walk in the Way. Wicked fools will not go there.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 32:16 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.