Climb God’s Mountain

1-5 The Message Isaiah got regarding Judah and Jerusalem:

There’s a day coming
    when the mountain of God’s House
Will be The Mountain—
    solid, towering over all mountains.
All nations will river toward it,
    people from all over set out for it.
They’ll say, “Come,
    let’s climb God’s Mountain,
    go to the House of the God of Jacob.
He’ll show us the way he works
    so we can live the way we’re made.”
Zion’s the source of the revelation.
    God’s Message comes from Jerusalem.
He’ll settle things fairly between nations.
    He’ll make things right between many peoples.
They’ll turn their swords into shovels,
    their spears into hoes.
No more will nation fight nation;
    they won’t play war anymore.
Come, family of Jacob,
    let’s live in the light of God.

6-9 God, you’ve walked out on your family Jacob
    because their world is full of hokey religion,
Philistine witchcraft, and pagan hocus-pocus,
    a world rolling in wealth,
Stuffed with things,
    no end to its machines and gadgets,
And gods—gods of all sorts and sizes.
    These people make their own gods and worship what they make.
A degenerate race, facedown in the gutter.
    Don’t bother with them! They’re not worth forgiving!

Pretentious Egos Brought Down to Earth

10 Head for the hills,
    hide in the caves
From the terror of God,
    from his dazzling presence.

11-17 People with a big head are headed for a fall,
    pretentious egos brought down a peg.
It’s God alone at front-and-center
    on the Day we’re talking about,
The Day that God-of-the-Angel-Armies
    is matched against all big-talking rivals,
    against all swaggering big names;
Against all giant sequoias
    hugely towering,
    and against the expansive chestnut;
Against Kilimanjaro and Annapurna,
    against the ranges of Alps and Andes;
Against every soaring skyscraper,
    against all proud obelisks and statues;
Against ocean-going luxury liners,
    against elegant three-masted schooners.
The swelled big heads will be punctured bladders,
    the pretentious egos brought down to earth,
Leaving God alone at front-and-center
    on the Day we’re talking about.

18 And all those sticks and stones
    dressed up to look like gods
    will be gone for good.

19 Clamber into caves in the cliffs,
    duck into any hole you can find.
Hide from the terror of God,
    from his dazzling presence,
When he assumes his full stature on earth,
    towering and terrifying.

20-21 On that Day men and women will take
    the sticks and stones
They’ve decked out in gold and silver
    to look like gods and then worshiped,
And they will dump them
    in any ditch or gully,
Then run for rock caves
    and cliff hideouts
To hide from the terror of God,
    from his dazzling presence,
When he assumes his full stature on earth,
    towering and terrifying.

22 Quit scraping and fawning over mere humans,
    so full of themselves, so full of hot air!
    Can’t you see there’s nothing to them?

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