The Future Glory of Zion

¹The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad,

and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose;

²it shall blossom abundantly

and rejoice even with joy and singing.

The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,

the excellency of Carmel and Sharon.

They shall see the glory of the Lord

and the excellency of our God.

³Strengthen the weak hands,

and support the feeble knees.

⁴Say to those who are of a fearful heart,

“Be strong, fear not.

Behold, your God will come

with vengeance,

even God with a recompense;

He will come and save you.”

⁵Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,

and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.

⁶Then the lame man shall leap as a deer,[#Jn 5:8–9]

and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.

For in the wilderness waters shall break out

and streams in the desert.

⁷The parched ground shall become a pool,

and the thirsty land springs of water;

in the habitation of jackals where each lay,

there shall be grass with reeds and rushes.

⁸A highway shall be there, a roadway,

and it shall be called the Highway of Holiness.

The unclean shall not pass on it,

but it shall be for the wayfaring men,

and fools shall not wander on it.

⁹No lion shall be there,

nor any ravenous beast shall go up on it;

these shall not be found there,

but the redeemed shall walk there,

¹⁰and the ransomed of the Lord shall return

and come to Zion with songs

and everlasting joy upon their heads.

They shall obtain joy and gladness,

and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.