Dry lands shall rejoice,
the waste places sing,
the deserts, their voices
all-blossoming, bring;
earth's wonders abound
and manifest bright--
the glory of cedars
on Lebanon's height,
the grandeur of Carmel's
majestic surround,
the splendor of Sharon's
rich, pastoral ground;
all these shall the wilderness,
budding, bring forth--
reflections of Yahweh's
magnificent worth.
So strengthen weak hands,
refresh languid limbs,
say thus to the troubled,
“take heart, be not grim!”
“the Lord, your salvation,
draws near, crowned with might;
His justice shall conquer
and set all things right!”
The blind shall behold,
the deaf then give ear,
the crippled go bounding
with joy like the deer
the mute shall in wonder
recover his voice,
then bursting with praises,
in raptures, rejoice
for springs shall be loosed
from the dry, gasping ground,
the hollow, the lair
of the jackal, be drowned,
as river and rill
put the fallow to flight
with mists in the morning
and dew in the night.
A path shall be laid
in that flourishing soil
where no unclean lecher
may travel or toil
no lion or beast
shall imperil its way,
its name shall be Holy,
resplendent its day
its people shall be
the Redeemed of the Lord,
its course their possession,
its end their reward
to Zion, resounding
in song, they shall near,
anointed with gladness
as griefs disappear.
Isaiah 35 put to verse
titled from
"The King of Love My Shepherd Is"