Isaiah 2
Living Bible
2 This is another message to Isaiah from the Lord concerning Judah and Jerusalem:
2 In the last days Jerusalem and the Temple of the Lord will become the world’s greatest attraction,[a] and people from many lands will flow there to worship the Lord.
3 “Come,” everyone will say, “let us go up the mountain of the Lord, to the Temple of the God of Israel; there he will teach us his laws, and we will obey them.” For in those days the world will be ruled from Jerusalem. 4 The Lord will settle international disputes; all the nations will convert their weapons of war into implements of peace.[b] Then at the last all wars will stop and all military training will end. 5 O Israel, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord and be obedient to his laws![c]
6 The Lord has rejected you because you welcome foreigners from the East who practice magic and communicate with evil spirits, as the Philistines do.
7 Israel has vast treasures of silver and gold, and great numbers of horses and chariots 8 and idols—the land is full of them! They are man-made, and yet you worship them! 9 Small and great, all bow before them; God will not forgive you for this sin.
10 Crawl into the caves in the rocks and hide in terror from his glorious majesty, 11 for the day is coming when your proud looks will be brought low; the Lord alone will be exalted. 12 On that day the Lord Almighty will move against the proud and haughty and bring them to the dust. 13 All the tall cedars of Lebanon and all the mighty oaks of Bashan shall bend low, 14 and all the high mountains and hills, 15 and every high tower and wall, 16 and all the proud ocean ships and trim harbor craft—all shall be crushed before the Lord that day. 17 All the glory of mankind will bow low; the pride of men will lie in the dust, and the Lord alone will be exalted. 18 And all idols will be utterly abolished and destroyed.
19 When the Lord stands up from his throne to shake up the earth, his enemies will crawl with fear into the holes in the rocks and into the caves because of the glory of his majesty. 20 Then at last they will abandon their gold and silver idols to the moles and bats 21 and crawl into the caverns to hide among the jagged rocks at the tops of the cliffs, to try to get away from the terror of the Lord and the glory of his majesty when he rises to terrify the earth. 22 Puny man! Frail as his breath! Don’t ever put your trust in him!
Footnotes
- Isaiah 2:2 will become the world’s greatest attraction, literally, “shall be established as the highest of the mountains.”
- Isaiah 2:4 will convert their weapons of war into implements of peace, literally, “will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.”
- Isaiah 2:5 and be obedient to his laws, implied.
Isaiah 2
Amplified Bible
God’s Universal Reign
2 The word [from God] which Isaiah son of Amoz saw [in a vision] concerning [the nation of] Judah and [its capital city] Jerusalem.
2
Now it will come to pass that
In the last days
The mountain of the house of the Lord
Will be [firmly] established as the [a]highest of the mountains,
And will be exalted above the hills;
And all the nations will stream to it.
3
And many peoples shall come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
To the house (temple) of the God of Jacob;
That He may teach us His ways
And that we may walk in His paths.”
For the law will go out from Zion
And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
4
And He will judge between the nations,
And will mediate [disputes] for many peoples;
And they will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not lift up the sword against nation,
And never again will they learn war.(A)
5
O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.
6
Most certainly [Lord] You have abandoned your people, the house of Jacob,
Because they are filled with influences from the east,
And they are soothsayers [who foretell] like the Philistines;
Also they strike bargains with the children of foreigners (pagans).(B)
7
Their land has also been filled with silver and gold
And there is no end to their treasures;
Their land has also been filled with horses
And there is no end to their chariots.(C)
8
Their land has also been filled with idols;
They worship the work of their hands,
That which their own fingers have made.
9
So the common man has been humbled [before idols]
And the man of importance has been degraded,
Therefore do not forgive them [O Lord].
10
Go among the rocks and hide in the dust
From the terror of the Lord and from the splendor of His majesty.
11
The proud look of man will be degraded
And the arrogance of men will be humbled,
And the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.
A Day of Reckoning Coming
12
For the Lord of hosts will have a day of reckoning
Against all who are proud and arrogant
And against all who are lifted up,
That they may be degraded.(D)
13
And the wrath of God will be against all the cedars of Lebanon [west of the Jordan] that are high and lifted up,
Against all the oaks of Bashan [east of the Jordan],
14
Against all the high mountains,
Against all the hills that are lifted up,
15
Against every high tower,
Against every fortified wall,
16
Against all the ships of Tarshish
And against all the beautiful craft.
17
Then the pride of man will be humbled
And the arrogance of men will be degraded;
The Lord alone shall be exalted in that day,
18
And the idols will completely vanish (be abolished).
19
They [the stricken, deprived of all in which they had trusted] will go into the caves of the rocks
And into the holes of the ground [fleeing]
From the terror and dread of the Lord
And from the splendor of His majesty,
When He arises to terrify the earth.(E)
20
In that day men will throw away to the moles and to the bats
Their idols of silver and their idols of gold,
Which they made for themselves [as objects] to worship,
21
To go into the caverns of the rocks and into the clefts of the [ragged] cliffs [as they flee]
From the terror and dread of the Lord and the splendor of His majesty,
When He arises to terrify the earth.
22
Stop regarding man, whose breath [of life] is in his nostrils [for so little time];
For why should he be esteemed?
Footnotes
- Isaiah 2:2 Or chief; lit head.
Isaiah 2
Easy-to-Read Version
God’s Message to Judah and Jerusalem
2 Isaiah son of Amoz received this message about Judah and Jerusalem.
2 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.
3 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.
4 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.
5 Family of Jacob, let us follow the Lord.
6 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. 7 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. 8 His land is full of gods that the people bow down to worship. They made those idols themselves. 9 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
- Isaiah 2:6 East This usually refers to the area around Babylon.
- Isaiah 2:9 They … up Or “The people have become very low. Surely you will not forgive them!”
- Isaiah 2:16 ships from Tarshish This is probably a special type of cargo ship.
Isaiah 2
The Message
Climb God’s Mountain
2 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?
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