1  ^uThe wilderness and the dry land shall be glad;

the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus;

2  it shall blossom abundantly

and rejoice with joy and singing.

The glory of ^vLebanon shall be given to it,

the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.

^wThey shall see the glory of the Lord,

the majesty of our God.

3  ^xStrengthen the weak hands,

and make firm the feeble knees.

4  Say to those who have an anxious heart,

“Be strong; fear not!

Behold, your God

will come with ^yvengeance,

with the recompense of God.

He will come and save you.”

5  Then ^zthe eyes of the blind shall be opened,

and the ears of the deaf unstopped;

6  then shall the lame man ^aleap like a deer,

and the tongue of the ^bmute sing for joy.

For waters break forth in the wilderness,

and ^cstreams in the desert;

7  the burning sand shall become a pool,

and the thirsty ground springs of water;

in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down,

the grass shall become reeds and rushes.

8  And a ^dhighway shall be there,

and it shall be called the Way of Holiness;

^ethe unclean shall not pass over it.

It shall belong to those who walk on the way;

even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.¹

9  No lion shall be there,

nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;

they shall not be found there,

but the ^fredeemed shall walk there.

10  ^gAnd the ransomed of the Lord shall return

and come to Zion with singing;

everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;

they shall obtain gladness and joy,

and ^hsorrow and sighing shall flee away.

17  “For behold, I create ^lnew heavens

and a new earth,

and ^mthe former things shall not be remembered

ⁿor come into mind.

18  But be glad and rejoice forever

in that which I create;

for behold, I create Jerusalem to be ^oa joy,

and her people to be a gladness.

19  ^pI will rejoice in Jerusalem

and be glad in my people;

^qno more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping

and the cry of distress.

20  No more shall there be in it

an infant who lives but a few days,

or an old man who does not fill out his days,

for the young man shall die a hundred years old,

and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.

21  ^rThey shall build houses and inhabit them;

they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

22  They shall not ^sbuild and another inhabit;

they shall not plant and another eat;

for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,

and my chosen shall long enjoy¹ the work of their hands.

23  They shall not labor in vain

or bear children for calamity,²

for they shall be the ^toffspring of the blessed of the Lord,

and their descendants with them.

24  ^uBefore they call I will answer;

^vwhile they are yet speaking I will hear.

25  ^wThe wolf and the lamb shall graze together;

the lion shall eat straw like the ox,

and ^xdust shall be the serpent’s food.

They shall not hurt or destroy

in all ^ymy holy mountain,”

says the Lord.