Advent in Word: Isaiah 35: 1-10

The desert and the parched land will be glad;


    the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.


Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom;


    it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.


The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,


    the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;


they will see the glory of the Lord,


    the splendor of our God.

Strengthen the feeble hands,


    steady the knees that give way;

say to those with fearful hearts,


    “Be strong, do not fear;
your God will come,


    he will come with vengeance;


with divine retribution


    he will come to save you.”

Then will the eyes of the blind be opened


    and the ears of the deaf unstopped.

Then will the lame leap like a deer,


    and the mute tongue shout for joy.


Water will gush forth in the wilderness


    and streams in the desert.

The burning sand will become a pool,


    the thirsty ground bubbling springs.


In the haunts where jackals once lay,


    grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.

And a highway will be there;


    it will be called the Way of Holiness;


    it will be for those who walk on that Way.


The unclean will not journey on it;


    wicked fools will not go about on it.

No lion will be there,


    nor any ravenous beast;


    they will not be found there.


But only the redeemed will walk there,

    and those the Lord has rescued will return.


They will enter Zion with singing;


    everlasting joy will crown their heads.


Gladness and joy will overtake them,


    and sorrow and sighing will flee away.