2 This is the message that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
The Glory of the Mountain of the Lord
2 This will take place in the latter days:
The mountain of the Lord’s house will be established
as the chief of the mountains.
It will be raised above the hills,
and all nations will stream to it like a river.
3 Many peoples will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob.
Then he will instruct us about his ways,
and we will walk in his paths.”
For from Zion the law[a] will go out,
and the Lord’s word will go out from Jerusalem.
4 He will judge between the nations,
and he will mediate for many peoples.
Then they will beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into blades for trimming vines.
Nation will not lift up sword against nation,
nor will they learn war anymore.
5 O house of Jacob, come,
and let us walk in the light of the Lord.
The Glory of the Lord Comes in Judgment
6 But you, Lord, have forsaken your people, the house of Jacob,
because they are filled up with practices from the East
and with fortune tellers like the Philistines,
and they join themselves to the heathen.[b]
7 Their land is full of silver and gold,
and there is no end to their treasures.
Their land is also full of horses,
and there is no end to their chariots.
8 Their land is full of gods that are not gods.[c]
They worship the work made by their own hands,
things that their own fingers have made.
9 Mankind is humbled,
and man is brought low.
Do not forgive them.
10 Go into the rocks,
and hide in the dust,
from the terror of the Lord
and from the glory of his majesty.
11 The proud eyes of mankind will be brought low,
the arrogance of man will be humbled,
and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.
12 There is a day coming for the Lord of Armies,
a day against everyone who is proud and arrogant,
against everyone who is lifted up—
he will be pressed down—
13 against all the cedars of Lebanon, that are so tall and lofty,
against all the oaks of Bashan,
14 against all the high mountains,
against all the hills that are lifted up,
15 against every tall tower,
against every fortified wall,
16 against all the ships of Tarshish,[d]
and against all the beautiful ships.[e]
17 The pride of mankind will be humbled,
and the arrogance of man will be brought low.
Then the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.
18 Those gods that are not gods will disappear completely.
19 People will flee into caves in the rocks
and into holes in the ground,
to hide from the terror of the Lord
and from the glory of his majesty,
when he arises to make the earth tremble.
20 In that day people will throw away to the moles[f] and bats
their worthless gods of silver
and their worthless gods of gold,
that they made for themselves to worship.
21 They will go into the clefts in the rocks
and into the crevices in the cliffs,
to hide from the terror of the Lord
and from the glory of his majesty,
when he arises to make the earth tremble.
22 Give up trusting in mankind.
All they have is breath in their nostrils.
What are they worth anyway?
Footnotes
- Isaiah 2:3 Here law refers to the whole word of God.
- Isaiah 2:6 Literally they clasp [hands] with the children of foreigners. The verse is difficult.
- Isaiah 2:8 The Hebrew means nothings or mini-gods.
- Isaiah 2:16 That is, long-distance freighters
- Isaiah 2:16 Or precious vessels or everything that is beautiful. The Hebrew word translated beautiful ships occurs only here in the Old Testament.
- Isaiah 2:20 With a different word division: rat holes