The return of the exiles
1Let the wilderness and the arid land rejoice,
the desert be glad and blossom.
2Covered with flowers, it sings and shouts with joy,
adorned with the splendor of Lebanon,
the magnificence of Carmel and Sharon.
They, my people, see the glory of Yahweh,
the majesty of our God.
3Give vigor to weary hands
and strength to enfeebled knees.
4Say to those who are afraid:
“Have courage, do not fear.
See, your God comes, demanding justice.
He is the God who rewards,
the God who comes to save you.”
5Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unsealed.
6Then will the lame leap as a hart and the tongue of the dumb sing and shout.
For water will break out in the wilderness and streams gush forth from the desert.
7The thirsty ground will become a pool,
the arid land springs of water.
In the haunts where once reptiles lay,
grass will grow with reeds and rushes.
8There will be a highway which will be called The Way of Holiness;
no one unclean will pass over it
nor any wicked fool stray there.
9No lion will be found there
nor any beast of prey.
Only the redeemed will walk there. 10For the ransomed of Yahweh will return:
with everlasting joy upon their heads,
they will come to Zion singing, gladness and joy marching with them, while sorrow and sighing flee away.
