Isaiah 2

1 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

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

2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it.

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.

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

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.”

4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

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.

5 O house of Jacob, come you, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.

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

6 Therefore you have forsaken your people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers.

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.

7 Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots:

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.

8 Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made:

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

9 And the mean man bows down, and the great man humbles himself: therefore forgive them not.

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

10 Enter into the rock, and hide you in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty.

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

11 The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.

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.

12 For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be on every one that is proud and lofty, and on every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low:

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.

13 And on all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and on all the oaks of Bashan,

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

14 And on all the high mountains, and on all the hills that are lifted up,

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

15 And on every high tower, and on every fenced wall,

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

16 And on all the ships of Tarshish, and on all pleasant pictures.

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

17 And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.

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

18 And the idols he shall utterly abolish.

Idols will completely vanish away.

19 And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he rises to shake terribly the earth.

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.

20 In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats;

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.

21 To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he rises to shake terribly the earth.

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.

22 Cease you from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?

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