This is what the Lord says: 
“At the right time I will hear your prayers. 
On the day of salvation I will help you. . . . 
You will tell the prisoners, ‘Come out of your prison.’ 
You will tell those in darkness, ‘Come into the light.’ 
The people will eat beside the roads. 
They will find food even on bare hills. 
They will not be hungry or thirsty. 
Neither the hot sun nor the desert wind will hurt them. 
The God who comforts them will lead them. 
He will lead them by springs of water. 
I will make my mountains into roads for my people. 
And the roads will be raised up. 
Look, people are coming to me from far away.” . . . 
Heavens and earth, be happy. 
Mountains, shout with joy. 
Be happy because the Lord comforts his people. 
He will comfort those who suffer.
—International Children’s Bible®

“The right time” (sometimes rendered the acceptable or favorable time) signified to some Jews the Jubilee, a tradition observed every fifty years in which debts were forgiven and slaves freed (see Leviticus 25:10). Viewed more broadly, this prophecy offers a new perception of liberty. As in the Exodus from Egypt, God’s people are to be delivered from all captivity and servitude—and their needs met in every wilderness experience. Revelation 7:16, 17 echoes this oracle: “They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters.”

One source envisions a “journey of the heart back to the Lord.” In this divine journey, he continues, “even unmapped places are known to God, and even from them he will gather his pilgrims.”