Isaiah 2
The Message About Jerusalem
1 Isaiah son of Amoz saw this message about Judah and Jerusalem:
2 In the last days
the mountain on which the Lord’s Temple stands will become the most important of all mountains.
It will be raised above the hills, and people from all nations will come streaming to it.
3 Many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the Temple of the God of Jacob.
Then God will teach us his ways, and we will obey his teachings.”
His teachings will go out from Jerusalem; the message of the Lord will go out from Jerusalem.
4 He will settle arguments among the nations and will make decisions for many nations.
Then they will make their swords into plows and their spears into hooks for trimming trees.
Nations will no longer fight other nations, nor will they train for war anymore.
5 Come, family of Jacob, and let us follow the way of the Lord.
A Terrible Day Is Coming
6 Lord, you have left your people, the family of Jacob,
because they have become filled with wrong ideas from people in the East. They try to tell the future like the Philistines, and they have completely accepted those foreign ideas.
7 Their land has been filled with silver and gold; there are a great many treasures there.
Their land has been filled with horses; there are many chariots there.
8 Their land is full of idols. The people worship these idols they made with their own hands and shaped with their own fingers.
9 People will not be proud any longer but will bow low with shame. God, do not forgive them.
10 Go into the caves of the cliffs; dig holes and hide in the ground
from the anger of the Lord and from his great power!
11 Proud people will be made humble, and they will bow low with shame.
At that time only the Lord will still be praised.
12 The Lord All-Powerful has a certain day planned when he will punish the proud and those who brag, and they will no longer be important.
13 He will bring down the tall cedar trees from Lebanon and the great oak trees of Bashan,
14 all the tall mountains and the high hills,
15 every tall tower and every high, strong wall,
16 all the trading ships and the beautiful ships.
17 At that time proud people will be made humble, and they will bow low with shame.
At that time only the Lord will be praised,
18 but all the idols will be gone.
19 People will run to caves in the rocky cliffs and will dig holes and hide in the ground
from the anger of the Lord and his great power, when he stands to shake the earth.
20 At that time people will throw away their gold and silver idols,
which they made for themselves to worship; they will throw them away to the bats and moles.
21 Then the people will hide in caves and cracks in the rocks
from the anger of the Lord and his great power, when he stands to shake the earth.
22 You should stop trusting in people to save you, because people are only human;
they aren’t able to help you.
Isaiah 2
The Future Glory of Jerusalem
1 Here is the message about Judah and Jerusalems that was revealed to Isaiah son of Amoz.t
2 In the futuret
the mountain of the Lord’s temple will enduret
as the most important of mountains,
and will be the most prominent of hills.t
All the nations will stream to it,
3 many peoples will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the Lord’s mountain,
to the temple of the God of Jacob,
sot he can teach us his requirements,t
andt we can follow his standards.”t
For Zion will be the center for moral instruction;t
the Lord will issue edicts from Jerusalem.t
4 He will judge disputes between nations;
he will settle cases for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares,s
and their spears into pruning hooks.s
Nations will not take up the sword against other nations,
and they will no longer train for war.
5 O descendantst of Jacob,
come, let us walk in the Lord’s guiding light.t
The Lord’s Day of Judgment
6 Indeed, O Lord,t you have abandoned your people,
the descendants of Jacob.
For diviners from the east are everywhere;s
they consult omen readers like the Philistines do.t
Plenty of foreigners are around.t
7 Their land is full of gold and silver;
there is no end to their wealth.t
Their land is full of horses;
there is no end to their chariots.s
8 Their land is full of worthless idols;
they worshipt the product of their own hands,
what their own fingers have fashioned.
9 Men bow down to them in homage,
they lie flat on the ground in worship.t
Don’t spare them!t
10 Go up into the rocky cliffs,
hide in the ground.
Get away from the dreadful judgment of the Lord,t
from his royal splendor!
11 Proud men will be brought low,
arrogant men will be humiliated;t
the Lord alone will be exaltedt
in that day.
12 Indeed, the Lord who commands armies has planned a day of judgment,t
fort all the high and mighty,
for all who are proud – they will be humiliated;
13 for all the cedars of Lebanon,
that are so high and mighty,
for all the oaks of Bashan;s
14 for all the tall mountains,
for all the high hills,s
15 for every high tower,
for every fortified wall,
16 for all the large ships,t
for all the impressivet ships.ts
17 Proud men will be humiliated,
arrogant men will be brought low;t
the Lord alone will be exaltedt
in that day.
18 The worthless idols will be completely eliminated.st
19 Theyt will go into caves in the rocky cliffs
and into holes in the ground,t
trying to escape the dreadful judgment of the Lordt
and his royal splendor,
when he rises up to terrify the earth.t
20 At that timet men will throw
their silver and gold idols,
which they made for themselves to worship,t
into the caves where rodents and bats live,t
21 so they themselves can go into the crevices of the rocky cliffs
and the openings under the rocky overhangs,s
trying to escape the dreadful judgment of the Lordt
and his royal splendor,
when he rises up to terrify the earth.t
22 Stop trusting in human beings,
whose life’s breath is in their nostrils.
For why should they be given special consideration?