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,

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

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.

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.

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

Strengthen the limp hands and steady the feeble knees!

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.”

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.”

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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].

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.