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10 [a]Yet just as from the heavens
    the rain and snow come down
And do not return there
    till they have watered the earth,
    making it fertile and fruitful,
Giving seed to the one who sows
    and bread to the one who eats,
11 So shall my word be
    that goes forth from my mouth;
It shall not return to me empty,
    but shall do what pleases me,
    achieving the end for which I sent it.

12 Yes, in joy you shall go forth,
    in peace you shall be brought home;
Mountains and hills shall break out in song before you,
    all trees of the field shall clap their hands.
13 In place of the thornbush, the cypress shall grow,
    instead of nettles,[b] the myrtle.
This shall be to the Lord’s renown,
    as an everlasting sign that shall not fail.

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Footnotes

  1. 55:10–11 The efficacy of the word of God recalls 40:5, 8.
  2. 55:13 Thornbush…nettles: suggestive of the desert and therefore symbolic of suffering and hardship; cypress…myrtle: suggestive of fertile land and therefore symbolic of joy and strength. To the Lord’s renown: lit., “to the name of the Lord.”