God Will Comfort His People
35 The ·desert [wilderness] and dry land will ·become happy [rejoice];
the ·desert [arid plain; or Arabah] will be glad and will ·produce flowers [blossom; bloom].
Like a ·flower [lily; crocus], 2 it will have many blooms.
It will ·show its happiness [joyfully rejoice], as if it were ·shouting [or singing] with joy.
It will be ·beautiful like the forest [L given the glory] of Lebanon,
·as beautiful as Mount Carmel and the Plain of Sharon [L the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; 33:9].
·Everyone [L They] will see the glory of the Lord [C his manifest presence]
and the splendor of our God.
3 Make the weak hands strong
and the weak knees steady.
4 Say to people who are ·frightened [anxious; L hasty of heart],
“Be strong. Don’t be afraid.
Look, your God will come,
·and he will punish your enemies [L …with vengeance].
·He will make them pay for the wrongs they did […with the retribution of God],
but he will save you.”
5 Then the blind ·people [L eyes] will see again,
and the ·deaf [L deaf ears] will hear [Matt. 11:5; Luke 7:22].
6 ·Crippled people [Then the lame] will ·jump [leap] like deer,
and ·those who can’t talk now [L the tongue of the mute] will shout with joy.
Water will ·flow [burst forth] in the ·desert [wilderness],
and streams will flow in the ·dry land [arid plain; or Arabah].
7 The ·burning desert [scorched ground; parched earth] will have pools of water,
and the ·dry [parched; thirsty] ground will have springs.
Where ·wild dogs [jackals] once ·lived [lived and laid down],
grass and ·water plants [reeds and rushes/papyrus] will grow.
8 A road will be there;
this highway will be called “The ·Road to Being Holy [L Way/Highway of Holiness].”
·Evil people [The unclean; C ritually] will not be allowed to walk on that road;
only good people [C those who walk in the Way of Holiness] will walk on it.
No fools [C the morally corrupt who disregard God] will go on it.
9 No lions will be there,
nor will ·dangerous animals [ravenous/violent beasts] be on that road.
They will not be found there.
That road will be for the ·people God saves [redeemed];
10 the people the Lord has ·freed [ransomed] will return there.
They will enter ·Jerusalem [L Zion; C the location of the Temple] with ·joy [or singing; shouting],
and ·their happiness will last forever [L eternal joy will be upon their head; C as a crown].
Their gladness and joy will ·fill them completely [overtake/come upon them],
and sorrow and ·sadness [sighing] will ·go far [flee] away.