Isaiah 35

1 [Some day, it will be as though] the desert [and other very] dry areas are glad [DOU]; the desert will rejoice and flowers will blossom. Like crocuses/daffodils,

2 the desert will produce flowers abundantly; [it will be as though] everything is rejoicing and singing! The deserts will become as beautiful as [SIM] [the trees in] Lebanon, as fertile [SIM] as the plains of the Sharon and Carmel [areas]. [There] people will see the glory of Yahweh; they will see that he is magnificent.

3 [So], encourage those who are tired and weak.

4 Say to those who are afraid, “Be strong and do not be afraid, because our God is going to come to get revenge [on his enemies]; he will (pay them back/punish them) for what they have done, and he will rescue you.”

5 When he does that, [he will enable] blind people to see and [enable] deaf people to hear.

6 Lame people will leap like deer, and those who have been unable to speak will sing joyfully. Water will gush out [from springs] in the desert; streams will flow in the desert.

7 The very dry ground will become a pool of water, and springs will provide water for the dry land. Grass and reeds and papyrus will grow in places where the jackals/wolves lived previously.

8 And there will be a highway through that land; it will be called ‘the Holy Highway’. People who are not acceptable to God will not walk on that road; it will be only for those who conduct their lives as God wants them to; foolish people will become lost while walking on that road.

9 There will not be any lions there or any other dangerous animals along that road. Only those who have been freed [from being slaves in Babylonia] will walk on it.

10 Those whom Yahweh has freed will return to Jerusalem; they will sing as they enter the city; they will be extremely joyful [MET, PRS] forever. No longer will they be sad or mourn; they will be [completely] joyful [DOU].