Isaiah 2
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The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning 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 unto it.
3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, 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.
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 pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
5 O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord.
6 Therefore thou hast forsaken thy 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.
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:
8 Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made:
9 And the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself: therefore forgive them not.
10 Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for 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.
12 For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low:
13 And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan,
14 And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up,
15 And upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall,
16 And upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures.
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.
18 And the idols he shall utterly abolish.
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 ariseth to shake terribly 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;
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 ariseth to shake terribly the earth.
22 Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of ?
Public Domain KJV text from Wordproject.org
Isaiah 2:1-22
The Mountain of the Lord
1The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
2It shall come to pass in the latter days
that the mountain of the house of the Lord
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and shall be lifted up above the hills;
and all the nations shall flow to it,
3and many peoples shall come, and say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth the law,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
4He shall judge between the nations,
and shall decide disputes for many peoples;
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 anymore.
5O house of Jacob,
come, let us walk
in the light of the Lord.
The Day of the Lord
6For you have rejected your people,
the house of Jacob,
because they are full of things from the east
and of fortune-tellers like the Philistines,
and they strike hands with the children of foreigners.
7Their 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.
8Their land is filled with idols;
they bow down to the work of their hands,
to what their own fingers have made.
9So man is humbled,
and each one is brought low—
do not forgive them!
10Enter into the rock
and hide in the dust
from before the terror of the Lord,
and from the splendor of his majesty.
11The haughty looks of man shall be brought low,
and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled,
and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.
12For the Lord of hosts has a day
against all that is proud and lofty,
against all that is lifted up—and it shall be brought low;
13against all the cedars of Lebanon,
lofty and lifted up;
and against all the oaks of Bashan;
14against all the lofty mountains,
and against all the uplifted hills;
15against every high tower,
and against every fortified wall;
16against all the ships of Tarshish,
and against all the beautiful craft.
17And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled,
and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low,
and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.
18And the idols shall utterly pass away.
19And people shall enter the caves of the rocks
and the holes of the ground,
from before the terror of the Lord,
and from the splendor of his majesty,
when he rises to terrify the earth.
20In that day mankind will cast away
their idols of silver and their idols of gold,
which they made for themselves to worship,
to the moles and to the bats,
21to enter the caverns of the rocks
and the clefts of the cliffs,
from before the terror of the Lord,
and from the splendor of his majesty,
when he rises to terrify the earth.
22Stop regarding man
in whose nostrils is breath,
for of what account is he?
ESV Bible text displayed through the American Bible Society's Global Bible Widget
Isaiah 2:1-22
The Mountain of the Lord
1This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:
2In the last days
the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established
as the highest of the mountains;
it will be exalted above the hills,
and all nations will stream to it.
3Many peoples will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the temple of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law will go out from Zion,
the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
4He will judge between the nations
and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore.
5Come, descendants of Jacob,
let us walk in the light of the Lord.
The Day of the Lord
6You, Lord, have abandoned your people,
the descendants of Jacob.
They are full of superstitions from the East;
they practice divination like the Philistines
and embrace pagan customs.
7Their land is full of silver and gold;
there is no end to their treasures.
Their land is full of horses;
there is no end to their chariots.
8Their land is full of idols;
they bow down to the work of their hands,
to what their fingers have made.
9So people will be brought low
and everyone humbled—
do not forgive them.
10Go into the rocks, hide in the ground
from the fearful presence of the Lord
and the splendor of his majesty!
11The eyes of the arrogant will be humbled
and human pride brought low;
the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.
12The Lord Almighty has a day in store
for all the proud and lofty,
for all that is exalted
(and they will be humbled),
13for all the cedars of Lebanon, tall and lofty,
and all the oaks of Bashan,
14for all the towering mountains
and all the high hills,
15for every lofty tower
and every fortified wall,
16for every trading ship
and every stately vessel.
17The arrogance of man will be brought low
and human pride humbled;
the Lord alone will be exalted in that day,
18and the idols will totally disappear.
19People will flee to caves in the rocks
and to holes in the ground
from the fearful presence of the Lord
and the splendor of his majesty,
when he rises to shake the earth.
20In that day people will throw away
to the moles and bats
their idols of silver and idols of gold,
which they made to worship.
21They will flee to caverns in the rocks
and to the overhanging crags
from the fearful presence of the Lord
and the splendor of his majesty,
when he rises to shake the earth.
22Stop trusting in mere humans,
who have but a breath in their nostrils.
Why hold them in esteem?
NIV Bible text displayed through the American Bible Society's Global Bible Widget
Commentary
Chapter 2 opens with a time when God’s purpose will be fulfilled. There will be a time of reconciliation and universal worship of the Creator God.
The phrase the “will of God” is used carelessly, with consequent loss to our peace of mind. In our ignorance, we blame God for things for which only a terrorist should be blamed.
I’ve separated “the will of God” into three parts--intentional, circumstantial, and ultimate.
When God completed the creation of the earth, it was in full harmony with His universal kingdom. This was His intentional will; humankind was not to know evil.
When the cunning serpent deceived Eve into eating the forbidden fruit, God worked with circumstances and put into action a plan to rescue humanity.
Author, artist, singer, quadriplegic Joni Eareckson Tada eloquently states: “I have struggled with enough pain in my own life that it’s hard to see people use circumstance as a reason to accuse God rather than to grow close to God.”
God will not allow circumstances that would defeat His ultimate will to return us home to Him (see 1 Cor 10:13; 2 Cor 12:9, 10).
Jesus states “Take heart, I have overcome the world (Jn 16:33c), [not that I explained the world].”
Wayne Wasiczko
Retired Educator and Conference Auditor, Selah, Washington USA (as of this writing)
