Esias 35

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

The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.

2 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.

It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of Yhwh, and the excellency of our God.

3 Be strong, ye relaxed hands and palsied knees.

Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.

4 Comfort one another, ye fainthearted; be strong, fear not; behold, our God renders judgment, and he will render [it]; he will come and save us.

Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.

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

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

6 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.

Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.

7 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.

And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.

8 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.

And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.

9 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,

No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there:

10 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.

And the ransomed of Yhwh shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.