Isaiah

The arid desert shall be glad,The wilderness shall rejoiceAnd shall blossom like a rose.arose Lit. “crocus.”

It shall blossom abundantly,It shall also exult and shout.It shall receive the glory of Lebanon,The splendor of Carmel and Sharon.They shall behold the glory of GOD,The splendor of our God.

Strengthen the hands that are slack;Make firm the tottering knees!

Say to the anxious of heart,“Be strong, fear not;Behold your God!Requital is coming,The recompense of God—Who is indeed coming to give you triumph.”

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

Then the lame shall leap like a deer,And the tongue of the dumb shall shout aloud;For waters shall burst forth in the desert,Streams in the wilderness.

Torrid earth shall become a pool;Parched land, fountains of water;The home of jackals, a pasture;bpasture Meaning of Heb. uncertain; emendation yields “marsh.” The abode [of ostriches],c[of ostriches] Cf. 34.13. reeds and rushes.

And a highway shall appear there,Which shall be called the Sacred Way.No one impure shall pass along it,But it shall be for them.dfor them Emendation yields “for [God’s] people.” No traveler, not even fools, shall go astray.eNo traveler, not even fools, shall go astray Meaning of Heb. uncertain.

No lion shall be there,No ferocious beast shall set foot on it—These shall not be found there.But the redeemed shall walk it;

And GOD’s ransomed shall return,And come with shouting to Zion,Crowned with joy everlasting.They shall attain joy and gladness,While sorrow and sighing flee.