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The Return of the Redeemed to Zion

35The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad,
   the desert shall rejoice and blossom;
like the crocus ²it shall blossom abundantly,
   and rejoice with joy and singing.
The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,
   the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.
They shall see the glory of the Lord,
   the majesty of our God.

³ Strengthen the weak hands,
   and make firm the feeble knees.
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.’

⁵ Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
   and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
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;
⁷ the burning sand shall become a pool,
   and the thirsty ground springs of water;
the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp,^*
   the grass shall become reeds and rushes.

⁸ A highway shall be there,
   and it shall be called the Holy Way;
the unclean shall not travel on it,^*
   but it shall be for God’s people;^*
   no traveller, not even fools, shall go astray.
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.
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.

God’s People Are Comforted

40Comfort, O comfort my people,
   says your God.
² Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
   and cry to her
that she has served her term,
   that her penalty is paid,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
   double for all her sins.

³ A voice cries out:
‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord,
   make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
⁴ Every valley shall be lifted up,
   and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
   and the rough places a plain.
⁵ Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
   and all people shall see it together,
   for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.’

⁶ A voice says, ‘Cry out!’
   And I said, ‘What shall I cry?’
All people are grass,
   their constancy is like the flower of the field.
⁷ The grass withers, the flower fades,
   when the breath of the Lord blows upon it;
   surely the people are grass.
⁸ The grass withers, the flower fades;
   but the word of our God will stand for ever.
⁹ Get you up to a high mountain,
   O Zion, herald of good tidings;^*
lift up your voice with strength,
   O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings,^*
   lift it up, do not fear;
say to the cities of Judah,
   ‘Here is your God!’
¹⁰ See, the Lord God comes with might,
   and his arm rules for him;
his reward is with him,
   and his recompense before him.
¹¹ He will feed his flock like a shepherd;
   he will gather the lambs in his arms,
and carry them in his bosom,
   and gently lead the mother sheep.