Isaiah

Isaiah is the twenty-third book of the Bible and the first of the prophetic books. It is the longest of the prophetic books and one of the most often quoted in the New Testament. The book is traditionally attributed entirely to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz, who prophesied in Jerusalem in the eighth century BC during the reigns of four kings of Judah.

The book is usually divided into two parts. The first thirty-nine chapters are set during Isaiah's own lifetime, when the Assyrian Empire was the major regional threat. Isaiah delivers warnings to Judah and Israel about the consequences of their unfaithfulness, oracles of judgment against surrounding nations, and visions of a future king from David's line who will rule with justice and peace. The famous prophecies of a child called Immanuel, of a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and of the suffering servant begin in this section.

From chapter 40 onward, the tone shifts. Many scholars believe these chapters were written or compiled later, addressing the Jewish exiles in Babylon two centuries after Isaiah's lifetime. The chapters open with the famous line "Comfort, comfort my people, says your God" and continue with messages of consolation and the promise of return from exile. The figure of the suffering servant becomes central, a figure who bears the sins of others and is wounded for their transgressions, traditionally read by Christians as a prophecy of Jesus.

The book ends with a vision of a new heaven and a new earth.