The return of the exiles

¹ Let the wilderness and the arid land rejoice,

the desert be glad and blossom.

² Covered 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.

³ Give vigor to weary hands

and strength to enfeebled knees.

⁴ Say 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.”

⁵ Then will the eyes of the blind be opened

and the ears of the deaf unsealed.

⁶ Then 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.

⁷ The 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.

⁸ There 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.

⁹ No lion will be found there

nor any beast of prey.

Only the redeemed will walk there.

¹⁰ For 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.