The desert and the parched land will be glad.
The wilderness will rejoice and blossom.
It will burst into bloom.
It will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to it.
The splendor of Carmel and Sharon,
They will see the glory of the Lord,
The splendor of our God.
Strengthen the feeble hands.
Steady the knees that give way.
Say to those with fearful hearts,
Be strong,
Do not fear.
Your God will come.
He will come with vengeance,
With divine retribution.
He will come to save you.
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
Then will the lame leap like a deer and the mute tongue shout for joy.
Water will spring forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.
The burning sand will become a pool.
The thirsty ground bubbling springs.
In the haunts where the jackals once lay,
Grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.
And a highway will be there.
It will be called the Way of Holiness.
It will be for those who walk on that way.
The unclean will not journey on it and fools will not go about on it.
No lion will be there nor any ravenous beast.
They will not be found there.
But only the redeemed will walk there and those the Lord has rescued will return.
They will enter Zion with singing.
Everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
Listen to me,
You who pursue righteousness and who seek the Lord.
Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn.
The Lord will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins.
He will make her deserts like Eden,
Her wastelands like the garden of the Lord.
Joy and gladness will be found in her.
Thanksgiving and the sound of singing.
Listen to me,
My people.
Hear me,
My nations.
Instruction will go out from me.
My justice will become a light to the nations.
Those that the Lord has rescued will return.
Who are you that you fear mere mortals?
Human beings who are but grass.
That you forget the Lord your maker.
Who stretches out the heavens and who lays the foundations of the earth.
That you live in constant terror every day because of the wrath of the oppressor.
For where is the wrath of the oppressor?
The cowering prisoners will soon be set free.
They will not die in their dungeon nor will they lack bread.
For I am the Lord your God who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar.
The Lord Almighty is his name.
I have put my words in your mouth and covered you with the shadow of my hand.
I who set the heavens in place.
Who laid the foundations of the earth.
And who say to Zion,
You are my people.
Who are you that governs yesterday's Swedes with modesty?
You You You You
