Isaiah 35

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

They joy from the wilderness and dry place, And rejoice doth the desert, and flourish as the rose,

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.

Flourishing it doth flourish, and rejoice, Yea, [with] joy and singing, The honour of Lebanon hath been given to it, The beauty of Carmel and Sharon, They — they see the honour of Jehovah, The majesty of our God.

3 Strengthen the limp hands and steady the feeble knees!

Strengthen ye the feeble hands, Yea, the stumbling knees strengthen.

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.”

Say to the hastened of heart, 'Be strong, Fear not, lo, your God; vengeance cometh, The recompence of God, He Himself doth come and save you.'

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

Then opened are eyes of the blind, And ears of the deaf are unstopped,

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 leap as a hart doth the lame, And sing doth the tongue of the dumb, For broken up in a wilderness have been waters, And streams in a desert.

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 mirage hath become a pond, And the thirsty land fountains of waters, In the habitation of dragons, Its place of couching down, a court for reed and rush.

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.

And a highway hath been there, and a way, And the 'way of holiness' is called to it, Not pass over it doth the unclean, And He Himself [is] by them, Whoso is going in the way — even fools err not.

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.

No lion is there, yea, a destructive beast Ascendeth it not, it is not found there, And walked have the redeemed,

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 the ransomed of Jehovah return, And have entered Zion with singing. And joy age-during on their head, Joy and gladness they attain, And fled away have sorrow and sighing!