Isaiah 2

1 That which Isaiah, son of Amoz saw in vision, —concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

This is the message that [Yahweh showed me in a vision], concerning Jerusalem and [the rest of] Judea:

2 But it shall come to pass, in the afterpart of the days, That the mountain of the house of Yahweh Shall be, set up, as the head of the mountains, And be exalted above the hills, —And all the nations, shall stream thereunto;

[I saw that] in the future, the hill on which Yahweh’s temple is built will be the most important place on the earth; it will be [as though it is] the highest mountain, [as though] it has been raised up above all other hills; and people from all over the world will come there.

3 And many peoples shall go and say—Come ye, and let us ascend Unto the mountain of Yahweh Unto the house of the God of Jacob, That he may teach us of his ways, And we may walk in his paths, —For, out of Zion, shall go forth a law, And the word of Yahweh out of Jerusalem;

People from many people-groups will say [to each other], “Come, let’s go up to the hill, to the temple of Yahweh, to worship the God whom Jacob [worshiped]. [There] Yahweh will teach us what he [desires us to know], in order that our behavior will [please] him. His teaching will be given [to us] in Jerusalem, and [we will take] his message from Jerusalem [to other places/nations].

4 And he will judge between the nations, And be umpire to many peoples, —And they will beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning-hooks, Nation—against nation, shall not lift up sword, Neither shall they learn any more to make war,

Yahweh will listen to the disputes between nations and he will settle their arguments. [Then, instead of fighting against each other], they will hammer their swords into plow blades, and they will hammer their spears into pruning knives. [The armies of] nations will no longer fight against each other, and they will not [even] train men to fight in battles/wars.”

5 O house of Jacob! come ye and let us walk in the light of Yahweh.

You Israeli people, let’s walk in the light [MET] that comes from Yahweh!

6 Therefore hast thou abandoned thy people the house of Jacob, Because they have become full of the East, And use hidden arts like the Philistines, —And with the children of foreigners, strike hands; —

[Yahweh, ] you have abandoned [us] your people who are descendants of Jacob, because everywhere your people practice the customs of people who live east [of Israel]. Your people also perform rituals to find out what will happen in the future, like the people in Philistia do. They make agreements/treaties with (pagans/people who do not know you).

7 So that filled is their land with silver and gold, And there is no end to their treasures, —And filled is their land with horses, And there is no end to their chariots;

Israel is full of silver and gold; there are very many (treasures/valuable things) here. The land is full of war horses and war chariots.

8 And filled is their land with idols, —To the work of their own hands, do they bow themselves down, To that which they made with their own fingers.

[But] the land is [also] full of idols; the people worship things that they have made with their own hands.

9 So the mean man boweth down And the great man stoopeth low, —Therefore do not thou forgive them!

So now they will be humbled and they will be caused to become disgraced— Yahweh, do not forgive them!

10 Enter into the rock, Or hide thee in the dust, —Because of the terribleness of Yahweh, And for his majestic splendour.

All you people should crawl into [the caves in] the rock cliffs! You should hide [in pits/holes] in the ground because of being afraid of Yahweh and of his glorious and awesome power.

11 The lofty looks of mean men, shall be humbled, And, the haughtiness of great men, shall be bowed down, —And Yahweh alone shall be exalted in that day.

Yahweh will cause you people to no longer be arrogant, and he will stop you from being proud. Only Yahweh will be praised/honored on that day.

12 For, a day of Yahweh of hosts, [shall be] —Upon every one who is high and lofty, —And upon every one who is lifted up, And he shall be brought low;

The Commander of the armies of angels has chosen a day when [he will judge] those who are proud, every one of them [DOU], and he will humble them.

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

[He will get rid of all those who think they should be admired like] [MET] the tall cedar trees in Lebanon, and [like] all the great oak trees in the Bashan [region].

14 And upon all the lofty mountains, —And upon all the uplifted hills;

He will [get rid of all those who think they are as great as] [MET] all the high hills and even the high mountains.

15 And upon every high tower, —And upon every fortress wall;

He will [get rid of all those who think that they are] high towers and high strong walls [inside of or behind which they will be safe].

16 And upon all the ships of Tarshish, —And upon all desirable banners.

He will destroy all [those who are rich because they own] big ships that carry goods [to other countries] and [they own other] beautiful ships.

17 And the haughtiness of mean men, shall be humbled, —And the loftiness of great men, shall be laid low, —And Yahweh alone shall be exalted in that day.

He will cause people to no longer be arrogant and he will cause them to stop being proud. Only Yahweh will be praised/honored on that day.

18 And, the idols, shall wholly pass away;

All idols will (disappear/be destroyed).

19 And they shall enter into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of clay, —Because of the terribleness of Yahweh, And for his majestic splendour, When he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.

When Yahweh comes to shake/terrify the people on the earth, they will run to hide in caves in rock cliffs and in holes/pits in the ground, because of being afraid of Yahweh and of his glorious and awesome power.

20 In that day shall the son of earth cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, —which had been made for him to worship, into the hole of the mice, and to the bats;

On that day, people will get rid of all their gold and silver idols that they made to worship, and they will throw them to the bats and rats.

21 That he may enter into the clefts of the rocks, and into the fissures of the crags, —Because of the terribleness of Yahweh, And for his majestic splendour, When he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.

Then they will crawl into caves and hide in the crags in the cliffs. [They will do that to escape from] the dreadful [punishments] that Yahweh will cause them to endure, from [what he will do because] he is glorious and awesome, when he comes to shake/terrify the people on the earth.

22 Cease ye from the son of earth, In whose nostrils is but a breath, —For wherein to be reckoned upon, is he?

[So, ] do not trust that people [will save you], because people are [as powerless as] [MET] their own breath. People certainly cannot help you [RHQ]!