AME Zion Universal Reading August 1st 2021

The Walk Around

Sunday School Zoom Link

First Portion

Deuteronomy Chapter 7

12And it will be, because you will heed these ordinances and keep them and perform, that the Lord, your God, will keep for you the covenant and the kindness that He swore to your forefathers.13And He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your soil, your grain, your wine, and your oil, the offspring of your cattle and the choice of your flocks, in the land which He swore to your forefathers to give you.14You shall be blessed above all peoples: There will be no sterile male or barren female among you or among your livestock.15And the Lord will remove from you all illness, and all of the evil diseases of Egypt which you knew, He will not set upon you, but He will lay them upon all your enemies.16And you shall consume all the peoples which the Lord your God gives you; you shall not spare them, nor shall you worship their gods, for that will be a snare for you.17Will you say to yourself, "These nations are more numerous than I; how will I be able to drive them out"?18You shall not fear them. You shall surely remember what the Lord, your God, did to Pharaoh and to all of Egypt:19The great trials that your eyes saw, the signs, the wonders, the mighty hand, and the outstretched arm with which the Lord, your God, brought you out. So will the Lord, Your God, do to all the peoples you fear.20And also the tzir'ah, the Lord, your God, will incite against them, until the survivors and those who hide from you perish.21You shall not be terrified of them, for the Lord, your God, Who is in your midst, is a great and awesome God.22And the Lord, your God, will drive out those nations from before you, little by little. You will not be able to destroy them quickly, lest the beasts of the field outnumber you.23But the Lord, your God, will deliver them to you, and He will confound them with great confusion, until they are destroyed.24And He will deliver their kings into your hand, and you will destroy their name from beneath the heavens; no man will be able to stand up before you, until you have destroyed them.25The graven images of their gods you will burn with fire; you shall not covet the silver or gold that is upon them and take it for yourself, lest you be ensnared by it, for it is an abomination to the Lord, your God.26Nor should you bring an abomination into your house, lest you are to be destroyed like it, but you shall utterly detest it, and you shall utterly abhor it; for it is to be destroyed.

Deuteronomy Chapter 8

1Every commandment that I command you this day you shall keep to do, that you may live and multiply, and come and possess the land that the Lord swore to your forefathers.2And you shall remember the entire way on which the Lord, your God, led you these forty years in the desert, in order to afflict you to test you, to know what is in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.3And He afflicted you and let you go hungry, and then fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your forefathers know, so that He would make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but rather by, whatever comes forth from the mouth of the Lord does man live.4Your clothing did not wear out upon you, nor did your foot swell these forty years.5You shall know in your heart, that just as a man chastises his son, so does the Lord, your God, chastise you.6And you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, to go in His ways, and to fear Him.7For the Lord your God is bringing you to a good land, a land with brooks of water, fountains and depths, that emerge in valleys and mountains,8a land of wheat and barley, vines and figs and pomegranates, a land of oil producing olives and honey,9a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, you will lack nothing in it, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose mountains you will hew copper.10And you will eat and be sated, and you shall bless the Lord, your God, for the good land He has given you.

Romans 10:5–17 (NLT): Salvation Is for Everyone

5 For Moses writes that the law’s way of making a person right with God requires obedience to all of its commands. 6 But faith’s way of getting right with God says, “Don’t say in your heart, ‘Who will go up to heaven?’ (to bring Christ down to earth). 7 And don’t say, ‘Who will go down to the place of the dead?’ (to bring Christ back to life again).” 8 In fact, it says,

“The message is very close at hand;

it is on your lips and in your heart.”

And that message is the very message about faith that we preach: 9 If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. 11 As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.” 12 Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on him. 13 For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

14 But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? 15 And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!”

16 But not everyone welcomes the Good News, for Isaiah the prophet said, “Lord, who has believed our message?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.

Second Portion

Deuteronomy Chapter 8

11Beware that you do not forget the Lord, your God, by not keeping His commandments, His ordinances, and His statutes, which I command you this day,12lest you eat and be sated, and build good houses and dwell therein,13and your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and gold increase, and all that you have increases,14and your heart grows haughty, and you forget the Lord, your God, Who has brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage,15Who led you through that great and awesome desert, [in which were] snakes, vipers and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought water for you out of solid rock,16Who fed you with manna in the desert, which your forefathers did not know, in order to afflict you and in order to test you, to benefit you in your end,17and you will say to yourself, "My strength and the might of my hand that has accumulated this wealth for me."18But you must remember the Lord your God, for it is He that gives you strength to make wealth, in order to establish His covenant which He swore to your forefathers, as it is this day.19And it will be, if you forget the Lord your God and follow other gods, and worship them, and prostrate yourself before them, I bear witness against you this day, that you will surely perish.20As the nations that the Lord destroys before you, so will you perish; since you will not obey the Lord your God.

Deuteronomy Chapter 9

1Hear, O Israel: Today, you are crossing the Jordan to come in to possess nations greater and stronger than you, great cities, fortified up to the heavens.2A great and tall people, the children of the 'Anakim, whom you know and of whom you have heard said, "Who can stand against the children of 'Anak?!"3You shall know this day, that it is the Lord your God Who passes over before you as a consuming fire He will destroy them, and He will subdue them before you; and you shall drive them out and destroy them quickly, as the Lord spoke to you.

Monday

Deuteronomy 30:6–14 (NLT):

6 “The Lord your God will change your heart and the hearts of all your descendants, so that you will love him with all your heart and soul and so you may live! 7 The Lord your God will inflict all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate and persecute you. 8 Then you will again obey the Lord and keep all his commands that I am giving you today.

9 “The Lord your God will then make you successful in everything you do. He will give you many children and numerous livestock, and he will cause your fields to produce abundant harvests, for the Lord will again delight in being good to you as he was to your ancestors. 10 The Lord your God will delight in you if you obey his voice and keep the commands and decrees written in this Book of Instruction, and if you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and soul.

The Choice of Life or Death

11 “This command I am giving you today is not too difficult for you, and it is not beyond your reach. 12 It is not kept in heaven, so distant that you must ask, ‘Who will go up to heaven and bring it down so we can hear it and obey?’ 13 It is not kept beyond the sea, so far away that you must ask, ‘Who will cross the sea to bring it to us so we can hear it and obey?’ 14 No, the message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart so that you can obey it.

Third Portion

Deuteronomy Chapter 9

4Do not say to yourself, when the Lord, your God, has repelled them from before you, saying, "Because of my righteousness, the Lord has brought me to possess this land," and [that] because of the wickedness of these nations, the Lord drives them out from before you.5Not because of your righteousness or because of the honesty of your heart, do you come to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations, the Lord your God drives them out from before you, and in order to establish the matter that the Lord swore to your forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.6You shall know that, not because of your righteousness, the Lord, your God, gives you this good land to possess it; for you are a stiffnecked people.7Remember do not forget, how you angered the Lord, your God, in the desert; from the day that you went out of the land of Egypt, until you came to this place, you have been rebelling against the Lord.8At Horeb, you angered the Lord, and the Lord was incensed with you to destroy you.9When I ascended the mountain to receive the stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant which the Lord made with you, I remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water;10and the Lord gave me two stone tablets, inscribed by the finger of God, and on them was [inscribed] according to all the words that the Lord spoke with you on the mountain from the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly.11And it came to pass at the end of forty days and forty nights, that the Lord gave me two stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant.12And the Lord said to me, "Arise, descend quickly from here, for your people whom you have brought out of Egypt have become corrupt; they have quickly deviated from the way which I commanded them; they have made for themselves a molten image."13And the Lord spoke to me [further], saying, "I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people.14Leave Me alone, and I will destroy them and obliterate their name from beneath the heavens, and I will make you into a nation mightier and more numerous than they."15So I turned and came down from the mountain, and the mountain was burning with fire, and the two tablets of the covenant were on my two hands.16And I saw, and behold, you had sinned against the Lord, your God; you had made yourselves a molten calf; you had deviated quickly from the way which the Lord had commanded you.17So I grasped the two tablets, cast them out of my two hands, and shattered them before your eyes.18And I fell down before the Lord as before, forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sins you had committed, by doing evil in the eyes of the Lord to anger Him.19For I was frightened of the wrath and the fury that the Lord was angry with you to destroy you, and the Lord hearkened to me also at that time.20And with Aaron, the Lord was very furious, to destroy him; so I prayed also for Aaron at that time.21And I took your sin the calf, which you had made, and I burned it with fire, and I crushed it, grinding it well, until it was fine dust, and I cast its dust into the brook that descends from the mountain.22And at Tav'erah, and at Massah, and at Kivroth Hata'avah, you provoked the Lord to anger.23And when the Lord sent you from Kadesh Barnea, saying, "Go up and possess the land I have given you," you defied the word of the Lord your God, and you did not believe Him, nor did you obey Him.24You have been rebelling against the Lord since the day I became acquainted with you.25So I fell down before the Lord the forty days and the forty nights that I had fallen down; because the Lord had said to destroy you.26And I prayed to the Lord and said, "O Lord God, do not destroy Your people and Your inheritance, which You have redeemed in Your greatness, and which You have brought out of Egypt with mighty hand.27Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; do not turn to the stubbornness of this people, to their wickedness, or to their sin.28Lest [the people of] the land from which you brought us out will say, 'Because of the Lord's inability to bring them to the land about which He spoke to them, and because of His hatred toward them, He has brought them out to slay them in the desert.'29But they are Your people and Your inheritance, which You brought out with Your great strength and with Your outstretched arm."

Tuesday

Isaiah 52:1–10 (NLT): Deliverance for Jerusalem

1 Wake up, wake up, O Zion!

Clothe yourself with strength.

Put on your beautiful clothes, O holy city of Jerusalem,

for unclean and godless people will enter your gates no longer.

2 Rise from the dust, O Jerusalem.

Sit in a place of honor.

Remove the chains of slavery from your neck,

O captive daughter of Zion.

3 For this is what the Lord says:

“When I sold you into exile,

I received no payment.

Now I can redeem you

without having to pay for you.”

4 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “Long ago my people chose to live in Egypt. Now they are oppressed by Assyria. 5 What is this?” asks the Lord. “Why are my people enslaved again? Those who rule them shout in exultation. My name is blasphemed all day long. 6 But I will reveal my name to my people, and they will come to know its power. Then at last they will recognize that I am the one who speaks to them.”

7 How beautiful on the mountains

are the feet of the messenger who brings good news,

the good news of peace and salvation,

the news that the God of Israel reigns!

8 The watchmen shout and sing with joy,

for before their very eyes

they see the Lord returning to Jerusalem.

9 Let the ruins of Jerusalem break into joyful song,

for the Lord has comforted his people.

He has redeemed Jerusalem.

10 The Lord has demonstrated his holy power

before the eyes of all the nations.

All the ends of the earth will see

the victory of our God.

Fourth Portion

Deuteronomy Chapter 10

1At that time, the Lord said to me, "Hew for yourself two stone tablets like the first ones and come up to Me onto the mountain, and make for yourself a wooden ark,2And I shall inscribe on the tablets the words that were upon the first tablets which you shattered and you shall place them into the ark.3So I made an ark of acacia wood, and I hewed two stone tablets like the first ones, and I ascended the mountain, with the two tablets in my hand."4And He inscribed on the tablets, like the first writing, the Ten Commandments, which the Lord had spoken to you on the mountain, from the midst of the fire, on the day of the assembly, and the Lord gave them to me.5And I turned and came down from the mountain, and placed the tablets in the ark which I had made, and there they were, as the Lord had commanded me.6The children of Israel journeyed from the wells of B'nei Ya'akan to Moserah; there Aaron died, and there he was buried; and Eleazar his son served as kohen in his stead.7From there, they journeyed to Gudgodah, and from Gudgodah to Yotvath, a land with streams of water.8At that time, the Lord separated the tribe of Levi to bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to serve Him, and to bless in His Name, to this day.9Therefore, Levi has no portion or inheritance with his brothers; the Lord is his inheritance, as the Lord, your God spoke to him.10And I remained on the mountain like the first days forty days and forty nights, and the Lord hearkened to me also at that time; the Lord did not wish to destroy you.11And the Lord said to me, "Arise, go to lead the travels before the people, so that they may come and possess the land I promised their forefathers to give them.

Wednesday

Joel 2:28–32 (NLT): The Lord’s Promise of His Spirit

28  “Then, after doing all those things,

I will pour out my Spirit upon all people.

Your sons and daughters will prophesy.

Your old men will dream dreams,

and your young men will see visions.

29 In those days I will pour out my Spirit

even on servants—men and women alike.

30 And I will cause wonders in the heavens and on the earth—

blood and fire and columns of smoke.

31 The sun will become dark,

and the moon will turn blood red

before that great and terrible day of the Lord arrives.

32 But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord

will be saved,

for some on Mount Zion in Jerusalem will escape,

just as the Lord has said.

These will be among the survivors

whom the Lord has called.

Fifth Portion

Deuteronomy Chapter 10

12And now, O Israel, what does the Lord, your God, ask of you? Only to fear the Lord, your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, and to worship the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul,13to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes, which I command you this day, for your good.14Behold, to the Lord, your God, belong the heavens and the heavens of the heavens, the earth, and all that is on it.15Only your forefathers the Lord desired, to love them, and He chose their seed after them you, out of all peoples, as it is this day.16You shall circumcise the foreskin of your heart, therefore, and be no more stiffnecked.17For the Lord, your God, is God of gods and the Lord of the lords, the great mighty and awesome God, Who will show no favor, nor will He take a bribe.18He executes the judgment of the orphan and widow, and He loves the stranger, to give him bread and clothing.19You shall love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.20You shall fear the Lord, your God, worship Him, and cleave to Him and swear by His Name.21He is your praise and He is your God, Who did these great and awesome things for you, which your eyes have seen.22With seventy souls, Your forefathers descended to Egypt, and now the Lord, your God, has made you as the stars of heaven in abundance.

Deuteronomy Chapter 11

1[Therefore] you shall love the Lord, your God, keep His charge, His statutes, His ordinances, and His commandments, all the days.2And you shall know this day; that [I speak] not with your children, who did not know and who did not see the chastisement of the Lord, your God, His greatness, His mighty hand, and His outstretched arm,3His signs, and His deeds, which He performed in the midst of Egypt, to Pharaoh, king of Egypt and to his entire land,4and what He did to the army of Egypt, to its steeds, and to its chariots, that He caused the waters of the Red Sea to inundate them when they pursued you, and the Lord destroyed them, to this day,5and what He did for you in the desert, until you arrived at this place,6and what He did to Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben, that the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up and their households and their tents, and all the possessions at their feet, in the midst of all Israel.7But your eyes, which have seen all the great work of the Lord, which He did.8[Therefore] keep all the commandments that I command you this day, in order that you may be strong and come and possess the land to which you are crossing, to possess it,9and in order that you may prolong your days on the land that the Lord swore to your forefathers to give to them and to their seed a land flowing with milk and honey.

Thursday

Galatians 3:6–14 (NLT):

6 In the same way, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” 7 The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God.

8 What’s more, the Scriptures looked forward to this time when God would make the Gentiles right in his sight because of their faith. God proclaimed this good news to Abraham long ago when he said, “All nations will be blessed through you.” 9 So all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith.

10 But those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under his curse, for the Scriptures say, “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the commands that are written in God’s Book of the Law.” 11 So it is clear that no one can be made right with God by trying to keep the law. For the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.” 12 This way of faith is very different from the way of law, which says, “It is through obeying the law that a person has life.”

13 But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” 14 Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, so that we who are believers might receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith.

Sixth Portion

Deuteronomy Chapter 11

10For the land to which you are coming to possess is not like the land of Egypt, out of which you came, where you sowed your seed and which you watered by foot, like a vegetable garden.11But the land, to which you pass to possess, is a land of mountains and valleys and absorbs water from the rains of heaven,12a land the Lord, your God, looks after; the eyes of Lord your God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.13And it will be, if you hearken to My commandments that I command you this day to love the Lord, your God, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul,14I will give the rain of your land at its time, the early rain and the latter rain, and you will gather in your grain, your wine, and your oil.15And I will give grass in your field for your livestock, and you will eat and be sated.16Beware, lest your heart be misled, and you turn away and worship strange gods and prostrate yourselves before them.17And the wrath of the Lord will be kindled against you, and He will close off the heavens, and there will be no rain, and the ground will not give its produce, and you will perish quickly from upon the good land that the Lord gives you.18And you shall set these words of Mine upon your heart and upon your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand and they shall be for ornaments between your eyes.19And you shall teach them to your sons to speak with them, when you sit in your house and when you walk on the way and when you lie down and when you rise.20And you shall inscribe them upon the doorposts of your house and upon your gates,21in order that your days may increase and the days of your children, on the land which the Lord swore to your forefathers to give them, as the days of heaven above the earth.

Friday

Romans 10:1–4 (NLT):

Dear brothers and sisters, the longing of my heart and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved. 2 I know what enthusiasm they have for God, but it is misdirected zeal. 3 For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with himself. Refusing to accept God’s way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law. 4 For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given. As a result, all who believe in him are made right with God.

Seventh Portion

Deuteronomy Chapter 11

22For if you keep all these commandments which I command you to do them, to love the Lord, your God, to walk in all His ways, and to cleave to Him,23then the Lord will drive out all these nations from before you, and you will possess nations greater and stronger than you.24Every place upon which the soles of your feet will tread, will be yours: from the desert and the Lebanon, from the river, the Euphrates River, and until the western sea, will be your boundary.25No man will stand up before you; the Lord your God will cast the fear of you and the dread of you on all the land upon which you tread, as He spoke to you.

Saturday

Romans 10:18–21 (NLT):

18 But I ask, have the people of Israel actually heard the message? Yes, they have:

“The message has gone throughout the earth,

and the words to all the world.”

19 But I ask, did the people of Israel really understand? Yes, they did, for even in the time of Moses, God said,

“I will rouse your jealousy through people who are not even a nation.

I will provoke your anger through the foolish Gentiles.”

20 And later Isaiah spoke boldly for God, saying,

“I was found by people who were not looking for me.

I showed myself to those who were not asking for me.”

21 But regarding Israel, God said,

“All day long I opened my arms to them,

but they were disobedient and rebellious.”

Maftir Portion

Deuteronomy Chapter 11

22For if you keep all these commandments which I command you to do them, to love the Lord, your God, to walk in all His ways, and to cleave to Him,23then the Lord will drive out all these nations from before you, and you will possess nations greater and stronger than you.24Every place upon which the soles of your feet will tread, will be yours: from the desert and the Lebanon, from the river, the Euphrates River, and until the western sea, will be your boundary.25No man will stand up before you; the Lord your God will cast the fear of you and the dread of you on all the land upon which you tread, as He spoke to you.

Haftarah

Isaiah Chapter 49

14And Zion said, "The Lord has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me."15Shall a woman forget her sucking child, from having mercy on the child of her womb? These too shall forget, but I will not forget you.16Behold on [My] hands have I engraved you; your walls are before Me always.17Your sons have hastened; those who destroy you and those who lay you waste shall go forth from you.18Lift your eyes around and see, all of them have gathered, have come to you; as I live, says the Lord, that you shall wear all of them as jewelry, and you shall tie them as a bride.19For your ruins and your desolate places and your land that has been destroyed, for now you shall be crowded by the inhabitants, and those who would destroy you shall be far away.20Your children of whom you were bereaved shall yet say in your ears, "The place is too narrow for me; move over for me so that I will dwell."21And you shall say to yourself, "Who begot these for me, seeing that I am bereaved and solitary, exiled and rejected, and who raised these? Behold I was left alone; these-[from] where are they?"22So said the Lord God, "Behold I will raise My hand to the nations, and to the peoples will I raise My standard, and they shall bring your sons in their armpits, and your daughters shall be borne on their shoulder[s].23And kings shall be your nursing fathers and their princesses your wet nurses; they shall prostrate themselves to you with their face on the ground, and they shall lick the dust of your feet, and you shall know that I am the Lord, for those who wait for Me shall not be ashamed.24Shall prey be taken from a mighty warrior, or shall the captives of the righteous escape?"25For so said the Lord, "Even the captives of a mighty warrior can be taken and the prey of a tyrant shall escape, and with your contender will I contend, and your sons I will save.26And those who taunt you-I will feed their flesh, and as with sweet wine they shall become drunk [from] their blood; and all flesh shall know that I am the Lord Who saves you, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.

Isaiah Chapter 50

1So said the Lord, "Where is your mother's bill of divorce that I sent her away? Or, who is it of My creditors to whom I sold you? Behold for your iniquities you were sold, and for your transgressions your mother was sent away.2Why have I come and there is no man? [Why] have I called and no one answers? Is My hand too short to redeem, or do I have no strength to save? Behold, with My rebuke I dry up the sea, I make rivers into a desert; their fish become foul because there is no water and die because of thirst.3I clothe the heavens with darkness, and I make sackcloth their raiment.4The Lord God gave me a tongue for teaching, to know to establish times for the faint [for His] word; He awakens me every morning, He awakens My ear, to hear according to the teachings.5The Lord God opened my ear, and I did not rebel; I did not turn away backwards.6I gave my back to smiters and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair; I did not hide my face from embarrassments and spitting.7But the Lord God helps me, therefore, I was not embarrassed; therefore, I made my face like flint, and I knew that I would not be ashamed.8He Who vindicates me is near, whoever wishes to quarrel with me-let us stand together; whoever is my contender shall approach me.9Behold, the Lord God shall help me; who is he that will condemn me? Behold all of them shall wear out like a garment, a moth shall consume them.10Who among you is God-fearing, who hearkens to the voice of His servant, who went in darkness and who has no light, let him trust in the name of the Lord and lean on his God.11Behold all of you who kindle fire, who give power to flames; go in the flame of your fire, and in the flames you have kindled; from My hand has this come to you, in grief you shall lie down.

Isaiah Chapter 51

1Hearken to Me, you pursuers of righteousness, you seekers of the Lord; look at the rock whence you were hewn and at the hole of the pit whence you were dug.2Look at Abraham your father and at Sarah who bore you, for when he was but one I called him, and I blessed him and made him many.3For the Lord shall console Zion, He shall console all its ruins, and He shall make its desert like a paradise and its wasteland like the garden of the Lord; joy and happiness shall be found therein, thanksgiving and a voice of song.