Add parallel Print Page Options

God’s Message to Judah and Jerusalem

Isaiah son of Amoz received this message about Judah and Jerusalem.

In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s Temple
    will be the highest of all mountains.
It will be raised higher than the hills.
    There will be a steady stream of people from all nations going there.
People from many places will go there and say,
    “Come, let’s go up to the mountain of the Lord,
    to the Temple of the God of Jacob.
Then God will teach us his way of living,
    and we will follow him.”

His teaching, the Lord’s message, will begin in Jerusalem on Mount Zion
    and will go out to all the world.
Then God will act as judge to end arguments between nations.
    He will decide what is right for people from many lands.
They will stop using their weapons for war.
    They will hammer their swords into plows
    and use their spears to make tools for harvesting.
All fighting between nations will end.
    They will never again train for war.

Family of Jacob, let us follow the Lord.

Family of Jacob, you have abandoned your people. This is clear because they have been filled with bad influences from the East,[a] and now your people try to tell the future like the Philistines. They have completely accepted those strange ideas. Jacob’s land has been filled with silver and gold from other places. There are many treasures there. His land has been filled with horses and many chariots. His land is full of gods that the people bow down to worship. They made those idols themselves. The people have become worse and worse. They have become very low, and you leaders did nothing to lift them up![b]

10 You should be afraid of the Lord! Go hide in the dirt and behind the rocks. Hide from his glorious power!

11 Proud people will stop being proud. They will bow down to the ground with shame, and only the Lord will still stand high.

12 The Lord All-Powerful has a special day planned when he will punish the proud and boastful people. They will be brought down. 13 They might be like the tall cedar trees from Lebanon or the great oak trees from Bashan, but they will be cut down. 14 They might be like the tall mountains and high hills 15 or like the tall towers and high walls, but they will be brought down. 16 They might be like great ships from Tarshish,[c] filled with such wonderful cargo, but they will be brought down.

17 At that time those proud people will fall. They will bow low to the ground, and only the Lord will stand high. 18 All the idols will be gone. 19 People will go into the holes in the ground and the cracks in the rocks because they fear the Lord and his great power as he stands to shake the earth.

20 At that time people will throw away their idols they made from gold and silver. They made these statues to worship, but they will throw them into holes in the ground where bats and moles live. 21 They will go down into cracks in the rocks and boulders because they are afraid of the Lord and his glorious power as he stands to shake the earth.

22 Stop trusting other people to save you. Do not think too highly of them; they are only humans who have not stopped breathing yet.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 2:6 East This usually refers to the area around Babylon.
  2. Isaiah 2:9 They … up Or “The people have become very low. Surely you will not forgive them!”
  3. Isaiah 2:16 ships from Tarshish This is probably a special type of cargo ship.

The Mountain of the Lord(A)

This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:(B)

In the last days(C)

the mountain(D) of the Lord’s temple will be established
    as the highest of the mountains;(E)
it will be exalted(F) above the hills,
    and all nations will stream to it.(G)

Many peoples(H) will come and say,

“Come, let us go(I) up to the mountain(J) of the Lord,
    to the temple of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
    so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law(K) will go out from Zion,
    the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.(L)
He will judge(M) between the nations
    and will settle disputes(N) for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
    and their spears into pruning hooks.(O)
Nation will not take up sword against nation,(P)
    nor will they train for war anymore.

Come, descendants of Jacob,(Q)
    let us walk in the light(R) of the Lord.

The Day of the Lord

You, Lord, have abandoned(S) your people,
    the descendants of Jacob.(T)
They are full of superstitions from the East;
    they practice divination(U) like the Philistines(V)
    and embrace(W) pagan customs.(X)
Their land is full of silver and gold;(Y)
    there is no end to their treasures.(Z)
Their land is full of horses;(AA)
    there is no end to their chariots.(AB)
Their land is full of idols;(AC)
    they bow down(AD) to the work of their hands,(AE)
    to what their fingers(AF) have made.
So people will be brought low(AG)
    and everyone humbled(AH)
    do not forgive them.[a](AI)

10 Go into the rocks, hide(AJ) in the ground
    from the fearful presence of the Lord
    and the splendor of his majesty!(AK)
11 The eyes of the arrogant(AL) will be humbled(AM)
    and human pride(AN) brought low;(AO)
the Lord alone will be exalted(AP) in that day.(AQ)

12 The Lord Almighty has a day(AR) in store
    for all the proud(AS) and lofty,(AT)
for all that is exalted(AU)
    (and they will be humbled),(AV)
13 for all the cedars of Lebanon,(AW) tall and lofty,(AX)
    and all the oaks of Bashan,(AY)
14 for all the towering mountains
    and all the high hills,(AZ)
15 for every lofty tower(BA)
    and every fortified wall,(BB)
16 for every trading ship[b](BC)
    and every stately vessel.
17 The arrogance of man will be brought low(BD)
    and human pride humbled;(BE)
the Lord alone will be exalted in that day,(BF)
18     and the idols(BG) will totally disappear.(BH)

19 People will flee to caves(BI) in the rocks
    and to holes in the ground(BJ)
from the fearful presence(BK) of the Lord
    and the splendor of his majesty,(BL)
    when he rises to shake the earth.(BM)
20 In that day(BN) people will throw away
    to the moles and bats(BO)
their idols of silver and idols of gold,(BP)
    which they made to worship.(BQ)
21 They will flee to caverns in the rocks(BR)
    and to the overhanging crags
from the fearful presence of the Lord
    and the splendor of his majesty,(BS)
    when he rises(BT) to shake the earth.(BU)

22 Stop trusting in mere humans,(BV)
    who have but a breath(BW) in their nostrils.
    Why hold them in esteem?(BX)

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 2:9 Or not raise them up
  2. Isaiah 2:16 Hebrew every ship of Tarshish