For the mountains themselves may be removed, and the very hills may stagger, but my loving-kindness itself will not be removed from you, nor will my covenant of peace itself stagger,’ Jehovah, the One having mercy upon you, has said.” (Isaiah 54:9, 10)

²⁰ It is comforting to know that the punishment they must suffer​—the 70-year exile in Babylon—​will occur only once. When it is over, it will happen no more. Thereafter, God’s “covenant of peace” will be in effect. The Hebrew word for “peace” conveys not just the absence of war but also well-being of every kind. On God’s part this covenant is permanent. Sooner will the hills and mountains vanish than his loving-kindness toward his faithful people end. Sadly, his earthly nation will ultimately fail to live up to their side of the covenant and will shatter their own peace by rejecting the Messiah. The sons of “Jerusalem above,” however, fared much better. Once their difficult period of discipline was over, they were assured of divine protection.