10. How are the Jews returning from Babylon affected by Jehovah’s great deed in their behalf?

¹⁰ The Jews who return from Babylon realize that Jehovah has performed a great deed in their behalf. Their mourning as captives turns into exultation and praise because they are finally free. Thus, Isaiah fulfills his prophetic commission, that is, “to assign to those mourning over Zion, to give them a headdress instead of ashes, the oil of exultation instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of the downhearted spirit; and they must be called big trees of righteousness, the planting of Jehovah, for him to be beautified.”​—Isaiah 61:3.

12, 13. (a) Who were “big trees of righteousness” among the returning Jews in 537 B.C.E.? (b) Who have been “big trees of righteousness” since Pentecost 33 C.E.?

¹² Jehovah blesses his people with “big trees of righteousness.” Who are these big trees? In the years following 537 B.C.E., they were individuals who studied and meditated on God’s Word and cultivated Jehovah’s righteous standards. (Psalm 1:1-3; Isaiah 44:2-4; Jeremiah 17:7, 8) Such men as Ezra, Haggai, Zechariah, and High Priest Joshua proved to be outstanding “big trees”​—stalwarts for truth and against spiritual pollution in the nation.

14, 15. What projects were undertaken by Jehovah’s released worshipers starting in (a) 537 B.C.E.? (b) 33 C.E.? (c) 1919?

¹⁴ Highlighting the work of these “trees,” Isaiah continues: “They must rebuild the long-standing devastated places; they will raise up even the desolated places of former times, and they will certainly make anew the devastated cities, the places desolate for generation after generation.” (Isaiah 61:4) Under the decree of King Cyrus of Persia, faithful Jews who returned from Babylon rebuilt Jerusalem and its temple, which had been left in a devastated condition for so long.

Jehovah inspired Isaiah to declare: “Strangers will actually stand and shepherd the flocks of you people, and the foreigners will be your farmers and your vinedressers.” (Isaiah 61:5)