³ Strengthen the weak hands
    and make firm the feeble knees.^(C)
4 Say to those who are of a fearful heart,
    “Be strong, do not fear!
Here is your God.
    He will come with vengeance,
with terrible recompense.
    He will come and save you.”^(D)

⁵ Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
    and the ears of the deaf shall be opened;^(E)
6 then the lame shall leap like a deer,
    and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.
For waters shall break forth in the wilderness
    and streams in the desert;^(F)
7 the burning sand shall become a pool
    and the thirsty ground springs of water;
the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp;^[b]
    the grass shall become reeds and rushes.^(G)

⁸ A highway shall be there,^[c]
    and it shall be called the Holy Way;
the unclean shall not travel on it,^[d]
    but it shall be for God’s people;^[e]
    no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray.^(H)
9 No lion shall be there,
    nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;
they shall not be found there,
    but the redeemed shall walk there.^(I)
10 And the ransomed of the Lord shall return
    and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
    they shall obtain joy and gladness,
    and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.^(J)

²⁰ Go out from Babylon; flee from Chaldea;
    declare this with a shout of joy; proclaim it;
send it forth to the end of the earth;
    say, “The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob!”^(A)
21 They did not thirst when he led them through the deserts;
    he made water flow for them from the rock;
    he split open the rock, and the water gushed out.^(B)

⁷ How beautiful upon the mountains
    are the feet of the messenger who announces peace,
who brings good news,
    who announces salvation,
    who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”^(A)
8 Listen! Your sentinels lift up their voices;
    together they shout for joy,
for in plain sight they see
    the return of the Lord to Zion.^(B)
9 Break forth; shout together for joy,
    you ruins of Jerusalem,
for the Lord has comforted his people;
    he has redeemed Jerusalem.^(C)
10 The Lord has bared his holy arm
    before the eyes of all the nations,
and all the ends of the earth shall see
    the salvation of our God.^(D)

¹¹ Depart, depart, go out from there!
    Touch no unclean thing;
go out from the midst of it; purify yourselves,
    you who carry the vessels of the Lord.^(E)
12 For you shall not go out in haste,
    and you shall not go in flight,
for the Lord will go before you,
    and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.^(F)