And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by.

And the desolate land shall be tilled, which before was waste in the sight of all that passed by,

And the desolate land is tilled, Instead of which it was a desolation before the eyes of every passer by,

And the land which was waste will be farmed, in place of being a waste in the eyes of everyone who went by.

and when the deserted land will have been cultivated, which previously was desolate to the eyes of all who passed by,

And the desolate land shall be tilled,.... The land of Judea, which lay desolate during the captivity, and which now is under the dominion of the Turks, and in a ruinous state, shall be manured and cultivated, and become fruitful, as it formerly was: or the people of the Jews, who, in a spiritual sense, are like barren and uncultivated ground; these shall have the fallow ground of their hearts ploughed up, and the seeds of grace, truth, and righteousness, shall be sown in them, and they shall bring forth the fruit of good works:
whereas it lay desolate in the eyes of all that passed by: as the land of Canaan now does to every traveller in it, that observes it, and compares it with what it once was; and as the present state of the Jews is, in the eyes of every Christian pilgrim and traveller, that takes notice of their blindness and ignorance, their unbelief and hardness of heart.