The Desert Blooms
The desert itself is told to be glad. To people with shaking hands and anxious hearts the word is that their Father is coming himself. Blind eyes open, the lame leap, water breaks from burning sand, and a clean road runs home where fools cannot stray.
35 1The wilderness and the dry land will be glad; the desert will rejoice and blossom like the crocus. 2It will blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon. They will see the glory of our Father, the majesty of our Father. a a v2 Lebanon, Carmel, and Sharon were regions of ancient Israel celebrated for their lush forests, fertile slopes, and natural beauty — bywords for splendor.
3Strengthen the weak hands, and steady the buckling knees. 4Say to those with an anxious heart, "Be strong; do not fear! Look, your Father will come with justice, with our Father's retribution. He will come and save you."
5Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped. b b v5 When John the Baptist asked from prison whether Jesus was the One to come, Jesus answered with these very words — the blind seeing, the deaf hearing, the lame leaping — pointing to his healing ministry as the arrival of the Father's long-promised rescue (Matthew 11:5; Luke 7:22). 6Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will sing for joy. For waters will break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert. 7The burning sand will become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; in the haunt where jackals lie down, the grass will become reeds and rushes.
8And a highway will be there, a road, and it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not travel it; it belongs to the one who walks the way—even fools will not go astray. 9No lion will be there, nor will any ravenous beast travel on it; they will not be found there. But the redeemed will walk there, 10and the ransomed of our Father will return. They will come to Zion with singing, everlasting joy upon their heads; gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
