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 waste land and the dry places will be glad; the lowland will have joy and be full of flowers.
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 be flowering like the rose; it will be full of delight and songs; the glory of Lebanon will be given to it; the pride of Carmel and Sharon: they will see the glory of the Lord, the power of our God.
3 [So], encourage those who are tired and weak.
Make strong the feeble hands, give support to the shaking 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 who are full of fear, Be strong and take heart: see, your God will give punishment; the reward of God will come; he himself will come to be your saviour.
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 see, and the ears which are stopped will be open.
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 will the feeble-footed be jumping like a roe, and the voice which was stopped will be loud in song: for in the waste land streams will be bursting out, and waters in the dry places.
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.
And the burning sand will become a pool, and the dry earth springs of waters: the fields where the sheep take their food will become wet land, and water-plants will take the place of grass.
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 a highway will be there; its name will be, The Holy Way; the unclean and the sinner may not go over it, and those who go on it will not be turned out of the way by the foolish.
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, or any cruel beast; they will not be seen there; but those for whom the Lord has given a price,
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].
Even those whom he has made free, will come back again; they will come with songs to Zion; on their heads will be eternal joy; delight and joy will be theirs, and sorrow and sounds of grief will be gone for ever.
