2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,and proclaim to herthat her hard service has been completed,that her sin has been paid for,that she has received from the Lord’s handdouble for all her sins.
3 A voice of one calling:‘In the wilderness preparethe way for the Lord;make straight in the deserta highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be raised up,every mountain and hill made low;the rough ground shall become level,the rugged places a plain.
5 And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,and all people will see it together.For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.’
6 A voice says, ‘Cry out.’And I said, ‘What shall I cry?’‘All people are like grass,and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.
7 The grass withers and the flowers fall,because the breath of the Lord blows on them.Surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers and the flowers fall,but the word of our God endures for ever.’