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God Will Comfort His People

35 The ·desert [wilderness] and dry land will ·become happy [rejoice];
    the ·desert [arid plain; or Arabah] will be glad and will ·produce flowers [blossom; bloom].
Like a ·flower [lily; crocus], it will have many blooms.
    It will ·show its happiness [joyfully rejoice], as if it were ·shouting [or singing] with joy.
It will be ·beautiful like the forest [L given the glory] of Lebanon,
    ·as beautiful as Mount Carmel and the Plain of Sharon [L the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; 33:9].
·Everyone [L They] will see the glory of the Lord [C his manifest presence]
    and the splendor of our God.
Make the weak hands strong
    and the weak knees steady.
Say to people who are ·frightened [anxious; L hasty of heart],
    “Be strong. Don’t be afraid.
Look, your God will come,
    ·and he will punish your enemies [L …with vengeance].
·He will make them pay for the wrongs they did […with the retribution of God],
    but he will save you.”

Then the blind ·people [L eyes] will see again,
    and the ·deaf [L deaf ears] will hear [Matt. 11:5; Luke 7:22].
·Crippled people [Then the lame] will ·jump [leap] like deer,
    and ·those who can’t talk now [L the tongue of the mute] will shout with joy.
Water will ·flow [burst forth] in the ·desert [wilderness],
    and streams will flow in the ·dry land [arid plain; or Arabah].
The ·burning desert [scorched ground; parched earth] will have pools of water,
    and the ·dry [parched; thirsty] ground will have springs.
Where ·wild dogs [jackals] once ·lived [lived and laid down],
    grass and ·water plants [reeds and rushes/papyrus] will grow.
A road will be there;
    this highway will be called “The ·Road to Being Holy [L Way/Highway of Holiness].”
·Evil people [The unclean; C ritually] will not be allowed to walk on that road;
    only good people [C those who walk in the Way of Holiness] will walk on it.
    No fools [C the morally corrupt who disregard God] will go on it.
No lions will be there,
    nor will ·dangerous animals [ravenous/violent beasts] be on that road.
    They will not be found there.
That road will be for the ·people God saves [redeemed];
10     the people the Lord has ·freed [ransomed] will return there.
They will enter ·Jerusalem [L Zion; C the location of the Temple] with ·joy [or singing; shouting],
    and ·their happiness will last forever [L eternal joy will be upon their head; C as a crown].
Their gladness and joy will ·fill them completely [overtake/come upon them],
    and sorrow and ·sadness [sighing] will ·go far [flee] away.

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