✝
← Bible
ARCBLIVREKJVVBL

Isaiah 35

KJV · Chapter 35/66

1The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.

2It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God.

3Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.

4Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.

5Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.

6Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.

7And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.

8And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.

9No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there:

10And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

A beautiful contrast with the previous chapter: the desert will blossom like a rose, the blind will see, the deaf will hear, and the lame will leap like deer. There will be a 'holy highway' along which God's redeemed will return to Zion with everlasting joy.

Explanation

This chapter serves as a bridge of hope between the section of judgment (chapters 13-34) and the section of comfort that begins in chapter 40, promising transformation both in nature and in human limitations. The healings described (the blind, the deaf, the lame, the mute) are quoted almost literally by Jesus in Matthew 11:5 when answering John the Baptist's disciples about his messianic identity. The 'holy highway' where 'the unclean shall not pass over' describes a safe, purified path of return, both for the exiled people physically returning to Jerusalem and symbolically for a restored life. The application today is that biblical hope is not only spiritual but involves complete restoration — physical, emotional, and of creation itself.

Fun facts

  • The healings described in this chapter (the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame leap) are quoted almost word for word by Jesus in Matthew 11:4-5 as evidence that he was the awaited Messiah.
  • The image of the desert blossoming 'like the rose' has inspired countless hymns and works of Christian art throughout the centuries as a symbol of hope and transformation.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Isaiah 35:1After a whole chapter of destruction, the contrast arrives here: the wilderness blossoming is the image of restoration that returns every time the prophet wants to describe a future of peace — it is not botany, it is hope.
  2. Isaiah 35:2Lebanon, Carmel, and Sharon were famous in the region for their forests and fertile pastures, natural symbols of abundance. Lending that glory to the wilderness reinforces the chapter's image of total transformation.
  3. Isaiah 35:3Weak hands and trembling knees describe the body of someone exhausted or afraid, on the verge of giving up. It is a direct call to the people worn out by exile to regain courage before the return.
  4. Isaiah 35:4"Fearful heart," as the KJV renders it, describes those who have lost hope of things changing. The promise that God comes "with a recompence," that is, repaying the oppressors, is the reason given for regaining courage.
  5. Isaiah 35:5The blind seeing again and the deaf hearing again open the list of healings that describes the arrival of the time of restoration. It is an image of complete reversal, in the same style as the lame leaping and the dumb singing in the next verse.
  6. Isaiah 35:6The blind seeing, the deaf hearing, the lame leaping like a hart: these healings describe a complete transformation, a symbol of the people's return to the land. It is not a medical report, it is the poetic way of saying that everything broken will be restored.
  7. Isaiah 35:7"Dragons" here translates a word for jackals or desert creatures, animals that occupied dry, abandoned land. Water springing up in the very place where these creatures lived reinforces that no dry corner will be left out of the transformation.
  8. Isaiah 35:8The way of holiness is an imagined road that no one will actually build: it is a figure for a safe journey home, with no risk of getting lost along the way. The same hope reappears, now as a concrete road, in chapter 40.
  9. Isaiah 35:9The absence of any lion or ravenous beast on this road reinforces the idea of an utterly safe journey home, without the real dangers that used to stalk travelers in the wilderness. Only those redeemed from exile walk this road.
  10. Isaiah 35:10This verse closes the chapter repeating almost the same words that reappear at the end of chapter 51, a kind of refrain about the return from exile: the scene of arrival in Zion with everlasting joy.

Chapters

123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839404142434445464748495051525354555657585960616263646566

Our apps

Our apps →

Bible in Stories

The Bible told as a story, with audio and videos.

📱 Get the app

World in Stories

True stories of humanity that sound made up.

App StoreGoogle Play

Feito! Pequenas Vitórias

A light daily routine for people who lose track of the day.

App StoreGoogle Play