Isaiah 35

1 The wilderness and the land will be glad; the desert will rejoice and blossom like a rose.

Be glad, you thirsty desert: let the wilderness exult, and flower as the lily.

2 It will bloom profusely and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon. They will see the glory of the LORD, the splendor of our God.

And the desert places of Jordan shall blossom and rejoice; the glory of Libanus has been given to it, and the honour of Carmel; and my people shall see the glory of the Lord, and the majesty of God.

3 Strengthen the limp hands and steady the feeble knees!

Be strong, you relaxed hands and palsied knees.

4 Say to those with anxious hearts: “Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance. With divine retribution He will come to save you.”

Comfort one another, you faint-hearted; be strong, fear not; behold, our God renders judgement, and he will render [it]; he will come and save us.

5 Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.

Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall hear.

6 Then the lame will leap like a deer and the mute tongue will shout for joy. For waters will gush forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert.

Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the stammerers shall speak plainly; for water has burst forth in the desert, and a channel [of water] in a thirsty land.

7 The parched ground will become a pool, the thirsty land springs of water. In the haunt where jackals once lay, there will be grass and reeds and papyrus.

And the dry land shall become pools, and a fountain of water shall [be poured] into the thirsty land; there shall there be a joy of birds, ready habitations and marshes.

8 And there will be a highway called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not travel it— only those who walk in the Way— and fools will not stray onto it.

There shall be there a pure way, and it shall be called a holy way; and there shall not pass by there any unclean person, neither shall there be there an unclean way; but the dispersed shall walk on it, and they shall not go astray.

9 No lion will be there, and no vicious beast will go up on it. Such will not be found there, but the redeemed will walk upon it.

And there shall be no lion there, neither shall any evil beast go up upon it, nor at all be found there; but the redeemed and gathered on the Lord's behalf, shall walk in it,

10 So the redeemed of the LORD will return and enter Zion with singing, crowned with everlasting joy. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee.

and shall return, and come to Sion with joy, and everlasting joy [shall be] over their head; for on their head [shall be] praise and exultation, and joy shall take possession of them: sorrow and pain, and groaning have fled away.