The third of the Servant Songs (Isaiah 50:4-9) is the Servant's description of the gifts he has for his work (4-5a), the resistance to what he is doing (5b-6) and his confidence in Yahweh and his guiltlessness in the face of those who have become his oppressors (7-9).

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Isaiah 52:13-53:12 is the last of the Servant Songs. In Isaiah 42:1-4, Yahweh presents him as "my servant... my chosen" who will bring justice to the nations. In Isaiah 49:1-6, the servant introduces himself and his mission to, first, Israel, and then to the all the earth. In Isaiah 50:4-9, the Servant describes his work as Yahweh's secret weapon the violent opposition against his work and his continued confidence that Yahweh will help him succeed. The Servant however dies violently: he was "taken away...cut off" (53: after being made to suffer (53:7). He was buried among criminals in a grave that was not even his own (53:9).

Jeremiah 31:31-34 (LXX: Jer. 38:31-34) is a prose oracle about the new covenant. It is inserted between two poetic oracles about the return of the Northern tribes from exile which event Jeremiah was sure would happen (cf. vv.35-37). Perhaps the renewal of the covenant during King Josiah's time as occassioned by the discovery of a part of Deuteronomy in the Temple inspired Jeremiah's hopes for the return of Israel/Ephraim.

Jeremiah 7:23-28 is found in a context that describes Judah's continued disobedience to Yahweh and its consequences. The place of this selection within the whole of chapter 7 is shown below:

Jeremiah 17:5-18 is a collection of sayings ocncluding with a prayer. The principle of organization is not logical; these were materials put together because they belonged to the same period, like weblog entries belonging to the same week. The phrases "koh 'amar YHWH" (v.5) and "koh 'amar YHWH 'elay" (v.19) sets off the section from what precedes and what follows respectively. Verse 19 begins a new section.

The sayings in these sections can be divided thus:

God's word is not primarily something written, but an event. Dabhar in the Hebrew mind is first of all a "happening." After it "happens", then it is proclaimed, spoken about, and later, even written down. We have had the occassion to describe this event-aspect of the Word within the context of the Christ-event. In this selection from the prophet Isiah, we find God comparing His Word to the rain and the snow to illustrate its fruitfulness and efficacy.

This prophetic oracle may have been uttered during the time of the restoration of Judah's ruins (see Isaiah 58:12). We know from other sources how bad the situation was then (see Ezra and Nehemiah). It would appear that the Jews of the restoration not only worked hard to eke out a living (even at the expense of other people, see verse 3b), but also prayed hard for Yahweh's help. But no matter how much they fasted and observed the Sabbath, no help seems to be forthcoming. And because God seemed to not pay attention to their physical sacrifices, some are beginning to express their disappointment in the God who does not seem to care. It is within this context that one should read Isaiah 58:1-14, for it is Yahweh's response to complaints about his apparent lack of attention.

Isaiah 40-55 is usually assigned to an author that lived during the exilic period.  Scholars call him Deutero-Isaiah.  The daily mass readings for the second week of Advent is taken from his section of the book of Isaiah. Below is a summary of the contents of the selection: