Esias 35

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

The desolate and impassable land will rejoice, and the place of solitude will exult, and it will flourish like the lily.

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

It will spring up and blossom, and it will exult with rejoicing and praising. The glory of Lebanon has been given to it, with the beauty of Carmel and Sharon. These will see the glory of the Lord and the beauty of our God.

3 Be strong, you relaxed hands and palsied knees.

Strengthen the lax hands, and confirm the weak knees!

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

Say to the fainthearted: “Take courage and fear not! Behold, your God will bring the vindication of retribution. God himself will arrive to 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 will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will be cleared.

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 the disabled will leap like a buck, and the tongue of the mute will be untied. For the waters have burst forth in the desert, and torrents in solitary places.

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 land that was dry will have a pond, and the thirsty land will have fountains of water. In the hollows where the serpents lived before, there will rise up the greenery of reed and bulrush.

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 there shall be a path and a road in that place. And it will be called the Holy Way. The defiled will not pass through it. For this will be an upright path for you, so much so that the foolish will not wander along it.

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,

There will be no lions in that place, and harmful wild animals will neither climb up to it, nor be found there. Only those who have been freed will walk in that place.

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 redeemed of the Lord will be converted, and they will return to Zion with praising. And everlasting joy will be upon their heads. They will obtain gladness and rejoicing. For pain and sorrow will flee away.