perhaps only twenty years in the life of Israel. Ten years after 55:12–13, however, the circumstance of the community is abruptly changed. Now the text places us back in Jerusalem, in the shambles of the still ruined city. In the context that the text invites us to imagine, severe questions and heavy demands awaited the faithful. It was a time for rebuilding the city. It was a time for reshaping the faith of Israel that was now to become Judaism. As is characteristic in emerging Judaism, a time of