2 “Speak kindly to Jerusalem, and tell herthat her time of warfare is over,that her punishment is completed.For the Lord has made her pay double for all her sins.”
3 A voice cries out,“In the wilderness clear a way for the Lord;construct in the desert a road for our God.
4 Every valley must be elevated,and every mountain and hill leveled.The rough terrain will become a level plain,the rugged landscape a wide valley.
5 The splendor of the Lord will be revealed,and all people will see it at the same time.For the Lord has decreed it.”
6 A voice says, “Cry out!”Another asks, “What should I cry out?”The first voice responds: “All people are like grass,and all their promises are like the flowers in the field.
7 The grass dries up,the flowers wither,when the wind sent by the Lord blows on them.Surely humanity is like grass.
8 The grass dries up,the flowers wither,but the decree of our God is forever reliable.”