One of the first to fall was Isaiah, who for over half a century had stood Judah as the appointed messenger of Jehovah. "Others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth." Hebrews 11:36-38.

En af de første, det gik ud over, var Esajas, som i over et halvt århundrede havde været Herrens sendebud til Juda. "Andre igen måtte udstå spot og pisk, ja lænker og fængsel; de blev stenet, martret, gennemsavet, dræbt med sværd, gik om i fåre og gedeskind, led nød og trængsel og blev mishandlet, dem var verden ikke værd; de flakkede om i ørkener og bjerge og i jordens huler og kløfter." Hebr. 11,36-38.