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The Road of Holiness

35 The desert will rejoice,
    and flowers will bloom in the wastelands.
The desert will sing and shout for joy;
    it will be as beautiful as the Lebanon Mountains
    and as fertile as the fields of Carmel and Sharon.
Everyone will see the Lord's splendor,
    see his greatness and power.

(A)Give strength to hands that are tired
    and to knees that tremble with weakness.
Tell everyone who is discouraged,
    “Be strong and don't be afraid!
    God is coming to your rescue,
    coming to punish your enemies.”

(B)The blind will be able to see,
    and the deaf will hear.
The lame will leap and dance,
    and those who cannot speak will shout for joy.
Streams of water will flow through the desert;
    the burning sand will become a lake,
    and dry land will be filled with springs.
Where jackals used to live,
    marsh grass and reeds will grow.

There will be a highway there,
    called “The Road of Holiness.”
No sinner will ever travel that road;
    no fools will mislead those who follow it.[a]
No lions will be there;
    no fierce animals will pass that way.
Those whom the Lord has rescued
    will travel home by that road.
10 They will reach Jerusalem with gladness,
    singing and shouting for joy.
They will be happy forever,
    forever free from sorrow and grief.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 35:8 Probable text no fools … follow it; Hebrew unclear.

God's Splendor Will Be Seen

35 Thirsty deserts will be glad;
barren lands will celebrate
    and blossom with flowers.
Deserts will bloom everywhere
    and sing joyful songs.
They will be as majestic
    as Mount Lebanon,
as glorious as Mount Carmel
    or Sharon Valley.
Everyone will see
the wonderful splendor
    of the Lord our God.

God Changes Everything

* (A) Here is a message for all
who are weak, trembling,
    and worried:
“Cheer up! Don't be afraid.
Your God is coming
    to punish your enemies.
God will take revenge on them
    and rescue you.”

(B) The blind will see,
and the ears of the deaf
    will be healed.
(C) Those who were lame
    will leap around like deer;
tongues once silent
    will shout for joy.
Water will rush
    through the desert.
Scorching sand
    will turn into a lake,
and thirsty ground
    will flow with fountains.
Grass will grow in deserts,
where packs of wild dogs
    once made their home.[a]

God's Sacred Highway

A good road will be there,
and it will be named
    “God's Sacred Highway.”
It will be for God's people;
no one unfit to worship God
    will walk on that road.
And no fools can travel
    on that highway.[b]
No lions or other wild animals
    will come near that road;
only those the Lord has saved
    will travel there.

10 The people the Lord has rescued
will come back singing
    as they enter Zion.
Happiness will be a crown
    everyone will always wear.
They will celebrate and shout
because all sorrows and worries
    will be gone far away.

Footnotes

  1. 35.7 Grass … home: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  2. 35.8 And … highway: Or “And not even a fool can miss that highway.”