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)