Isaiah 35
35
The Joy of the Lord’s People
1The desert and the dry ground will be glad.
The dry places will be full of joy.
Flowers will grow there.
Like the first crocus in the spring,
2the desert will bloom with flowers.
It will be very glad and shout for joy.
The glorious beauty of Lebanon will be given to it.
It will be as beautiful as the rich lands
of Carmel and Sharon.
Everyone will see the glory of the Lord.
They will see the beauty of our God.
3Strengthen the hands of those who are weak.
Help those whose knees give way.
4Say to those whose hearts are afraid,
“Be strong and do not fear.
Your God will come.
He will pay your enemies back.
He will come to save you.”
5Then the eyes of those who are blind will be opened.
The ears of those who can’t hear will be unplugged.
6Those who can’t walk will leap like a deer.
And those who can’t speak will shout for joy.
Water will pour out in dry places.
Streams will flow in the desert.
7The burning sand will become a pool of water.
The thirsty ground will become bubbling springs.
In the places where wild dogs once lay down,
tall grass and papyrus will grow.
8A wide road will go through the land.
It will be called the Way of Holiness.
Only those who lead a holy life can use it.
“Unclean” and foolish people can’t walk on it.
9No lions will use it.
No hungry wild animals will be on it.
None of them will be there.
Only people who have been set free will walk on it.
10Those the Lord has saved will return to their land.
They will sing as they enter the city of Zion.
Joy that lasts forever will be
like beautiful crowns on their heads.
They will be filled with gladness and joy.
Sorrow and sighing will be gone.
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Isaiah 35: NIrV
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Isaiah 35
35
The Land and Its People Are Transformed
1 Let the desert and dry region be happy;#tn The final mem (ם) on the verb יְשֻׂשׂוּם (yÿsusum) is dittographic (note the initial mem on the following noun מִדְבָּר [midbar]). The ambiguous verbal form is translated as a jussive because it is parallel to the jussive form תָגֵל (tagel). The jussive is used rhetorically here, not as a literal command or prayer.
let the wilderness#tn Or “Arabah” (NASB); NAB, NIV, TEV “desert.” rejoice and bloom like a lily!
2 Let it richly bloom;#tn The ambiguous verb form תִּפְרַח (tifrakh) is translated as a jussive because it is parallel to the jussive form תָגֵל (tagel).
let it rejoice and shout with delight!#tn Heb “and let it rejoice, yes [with] rejoicing and shouting.” גִּילַת (gilat) may be an archaic feminine nominal form (see GKC 421 §130.b).
It is given the grandeur#tn Or “glory” (KJV, NIV, NRSV); also a second time later in this verse. of Lebanon,
the splendor of Carmel and Sharon.
They will see the grandeur of the Lord,
the splendor of our God.
3 Strengthen the hands that have gone limp,
steady the knees that shake!#tn Heb “staggering knees”; KJV, ASV, NRSV “feeble knees”; NIV “knees that give way.”
4 Tell those who panic,#tn Heb “Say to the hasty of heart,” i.e., those whose hearts beat quickly from fear.
“Be strong! Do not fear!
Look, your God comes to avenge!
With divine retribution he comes to deliver you.”#tn The jussive form וְיֹשַׁעֲכֶם (vÿyosha’akhem), which is subordinated to the preceding imperfect with vav conjunctive, indicates purpose.
5 Then blind eyes will open,
deaf ears will hear.
6 Then the lame will leap like a deer,
the mute tongue will shout for joy;
for water will flow#tn Heb “burst forth” (so NAB); KJV “break out.” in the desert,
streams in the wilderness.#tn Or “Arabah” (NASB); KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT “desert.”
7 The dry soil will become a pool of water,
the parched ground springs of water.
Where jackals once lived and sprawled out,
grass, reeds, and papyrus will grow.
8 A thoroughfare will be there –
it will be called the Way of Holiness.#tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “and there will be there a road and a way, and the Way of Holiness it will be called.” וְדֶרֶךְ (vÿderekh, “and a/the way”) is accidentally duplicated; the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa does not reflect the repetition of the phrase.
The unclean will not travel on it;
it is reserved for those authorized to use it#tn The precise meaning of this line is uncertain. The text reads literally “and it is for them, the one who walks [on the] way.” In this context those authorized to use the Way of Holiness would be morally upright people who are the recipients of God’s deliverance, in contrast to the morally impure and foolish who are excluded from the new covenant community. –
fools#tn In this context “fools” are those who are morally corrupt, not those with limited intellectual capacity. will not stray into it.
9 No lions will be there,
no ferocious wild animals will be on it#tn Heb “will go up on it”; TEV “will pass that way.” –
they will not be found there.
Those delivered from bondage will travel on it,
10 those whom the Lord has ransomed will return that way.#tn Heb “and the redeemed will walk, the ransomed of the Lord will return.”
They will enter Zion with a happy shout.
Unending joy will crown them,#tn Heb “[will be] on their head[s].” “Joy” may be likened here to a crown (cf. 2 Sam 1:10). The statement may also be an ironic twist on the idiom “earth/dust on the head” (cf. 2 Sam 1:2; 13:19; 15:32; Job 2:12), referring to a mourning practice.
happiness and joy will overwhelm#tn Heb “will overtake” (NIV); NLT “they will be overcome with.” them;
grief and suffering will disappear.#tn Heb “grief and groaning will flee”; KJV “sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”
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