Isaiah 2

1 This is the vision that Isaiah, son of Amoz, saw about Judah and Jerusalem.

The word that Isaias the son of Amos saw, concerning Juda and Jerusalem.

2 In the last days the mountain where the Lord's Temple stands will be recognized as the highest of all mountains, rising above other hills. Many from the other nations will travel to it.

And in the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be prepared on the top of mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it.

3 People will come and say, “Let's go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the Temple of the God of Jacob. There God will teach us his ways and we will follow his directions. God's teachings will spread out from Zion, his word from Jerusalem.”

And many people shall go, and say: Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall come forth from Sion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

4 The Lord will decide the cases of the nations; he will settle arguments between nations. They will hammer their swords and turn them into plough blades, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations will not fight against each other anymore; they will no longer learn methods of warfare.

And he shall judge the Gentiles, and rebuke many people: and they shall turn their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into sickles: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they be exercised any more to war.

5 Come, you Israelites, let's walk in the Lord's light.

O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord.

6 For you, Lord, have given up on your people the Israelites, because they have adopted pagan practices from the East, they use spells like the Philistines, and make friends with foreigners.

For thou hast cast off thy people, the house of Jacob: because they are filled as in times past, and have had soothsayers as the Philistines, and have adhered to strange children.

7 Their country is full of silver and gold, and endless wealth. Their land is full of horses; and they have an endless amount of chariots.

Their land is filled with silver and gold: and there is no end of their treasures.

8 Their country is full of idols; they bow down and worship what they have made themselves—produced by their own hands!

And their land is filled with horses: and their chariots are innumerable. Their land also is full of idols: they have adored the work of their own hands, which their own fingers have made.

9 These people will be brought down and humiliated—Lord, don't forgive them!

And man hath bowed himself down, and man hath been debased: therefore forgive them not.

10 Run away into rock caves, hide underground from the terrifying presence of the Lord, from the glory of his majesty.

Enter thou into the rock, and hide thee in the pit from the face of the fear of the Lord, and from the glory of his majesty.

11 Those who look with arrogance will be brought low; those who are proud will be humbled. On that day only the Lord will be lifted high.

The lofty eyes of man are humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be made to stoop: and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.

12 The Lord has set aside a day when he will deal with the proud and arrogant. He will end all self-glorification, bringing it down.

Because the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and highminded, and upon every one that is arrogant, and he shall be humbled.

13 He will cut down the cedars of Lebanon, tall and high, and all the great oaks of Bashan,

And upon all the tall and lofty cedars of Libanus, and upon all the oaks of Basan.

14 He will bring down the tall mountains and the high hills.

And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the elevated hills.

15 He will tear down every high tower and every defensive wall.

And upon every high tower, and every fenced wall.

16 He will wipe out all the commercial ships of Tarshish as well as the pleasure vessels.

And upon all the ships of Tharsis, and upon all that is fair to behold.

17 The arrogant will be humbled; the proud will be brought low. On that day only the Lord will be lifted high.

And the loftiness of men shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be humbled, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.

18 Idols will completely vanish away.

And idols shall be utterly destroyed.

19 People will run away into rock caves and holes in the ground to try and hide from the terrifying presence of the Lord, from the glory of his majesty, when he arrives to shake the earth.

And they shall go into the holes of rocks, and into the caves of the earth from the face of the fear of the Lord, and from the glory of his majesty, when he shall rise up to strike the earth.

20 On that day the people will take the idols of silver and gold that they made to worship and throw them away to the rats and the bats.

In that day a man shall cast away his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which he had made for himself to adore, moles and bats.

21 They will run to cracks in the rocks and gaps on the cliffs to try and hide from the terrifying presence of the Lord, from the glory of his majesty, when he arrives to shake the earth.

And he shall go into the clefts of rocks, and into the holes of stones from the face of the fear of the Lord, and from the glory of his majesty, when he shall rise up to strike the earth.

22 Don't bother trusting human beings who only live for a while. How much do they count?

Cease ye therefore from the man, whose breath is in his nostrils, for he is reputed high.