In the first 39 chapters, Isaiah addressed his 8th-century BC contemporaries. This section climaxed with the prediction of an exile to Babylon (39:6–7), which would end up occurring in the 6th century BC (586) when the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and took Israel captive. In chapters 40–55, Isaiah addresses those of this future exiled generation with words of hope. Through Isaiah, God comforts his people with the
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