Isaiah 2
GOD’S WORD Translation
The Lord Will Teach the Nations(A)
2 This is the message which Isaiah, son of Amoz, saw about Judah and Jerusalem.
2 In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s house
will be established as the highest of the mountains
and raised above the hills.
All the nations will stream to it.
3 Then many people will come and say,
“Let’s go to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways so that we may live by them.”
The teachings will go out from Zion.
The Lord’s word will go out from Jerusalem.
4 Then he will judge disputes between nations
and settle arguments between many people.
They will hammer their swords into plowblades
and their spears into pruning shears.
Nations will never fight against each other,
and they will never train for war again.
5 Come, descendants of Jacob,
let’s live in the light of the Lord.
Israel’s Sins
6 Lord, you have abandoned your people, the descendants of Jacob,
because they are filled with Eastern influences.
They are fortunetellers like the Philistines,
and they make deals with foreigners.
7 Their land is filled with silver and gold,
and there is no end to their treasures.
Their land is filled with horses,
and there is no end to their chariots.
8 Their land is filled with idols,
and they worship what their hands have shaped
and what their fingers have molded.
9 People will be brought down. Everyone will be humbled.
Do not forgive them.
10 Go in among the rocks and hide underground
because of the Lord’s terrifying presence
and the honor of his majesty.
11 The eyes of arrogant people will be humbled.
High and mighty people will be brought down.
On that day the Lord alone will be honored.
The Day of the Lord’s Judgment
12 The Lord of Armies will have his day
against all who are arrogant and conceited
and all who are proud of themselves (they will be humbled),
13 against all the towering and mighty cedars of Lebanon
and all the oaks of Bashan,
14 against all the high mountains
and all the lofty hills,
15 against every high tower
and every fortified wall,
16 against all the large ships of Tarshish
and all the beautiful boats.
17 Then arrogant people will be brought down,
and high and mighty people will be humbled.
On that day the Lord alone will be honored.
18 Then idols will disappear completely.
19 People will go into caves in the rocks
and into holes in the ground
because of the Lord’s terrifying presence
and the honor of his majesty
when he rises to terrify the earth.
20 On that day people will throw to the moles and the bats
the silver and gold idols that they made
for themselves to worship.
21 They will go into caves in the rocks
and into cracks in the cliffs
because of the Lord’s terrifying presence
and the honor of his majesty
when he rises to terrify the earth.
22 Stop trusting people.
Their life is in their nostrils.
How can they be worth anything?
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.
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