Isaiah 2

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

1This is the message God showed Isaiah, the son of Amoz. It was about Judah and Jerusalem.

2And 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.

2In the last days, the mountain where God's house stands will be the highest of all. It will rise above every hill. People from all nations will stream to it.

3And 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.

3Many people will say, "Come, let us go up to the LORD's mountain. Let us go to the house of Jacob's God. He will teach us his ways. Then we will walk in his paths." God's teaching will go out from Zion. His word will go out from Jerusalem.

4And 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.

4God will settle the arguments between nations. He will decide what is right for many people. They will hammer their swords into plows for farming. They will bend their spears into tools for trimming trees. No nation will pick up a sword against another. They will not train for war anymore.

NoteA plow breaks up dirt so seeds can be planted. A pruning hook is a curved blade for trimming branches. The picture is war weapons being turned into farm tools.

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

5People of Jacob's family, come. Let us walk in the light of the LORD.

6Therefore 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.

6Lord, you have left your own people, Jacob's family. They are full of ways they copied from the lands to the east. They try to tell the future, like the Philistines did. They shake hands and make deals with foreigners.

Note"Replenished" in old English means filled, not filled again. Their land was filled with ideas and habits brought in from the east.

7Their 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:

7Their land is full of silver and gold. Their riches never run out. Their land is full of horses. Their war carts never run out.

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

8Their land is also full of idols. Idols are statues that people treat as gods. They bow down to things their own hands and fingers made.

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

9Ordinary people bow down to these idols. Important people bow down too. Do not forgive them.

Note"The mean man" in old English means an ordinary, common person. It does not mean someone unkind.

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

10Go into the rocks. Hide in the dust. Hide from the fear of the LORD and his shining greatness.

11The 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.

11Proud people will stop looking down on others. Their proud ways will be brought low. On that day, only the LORD will be lifted high.

12For 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:

12The LORD who leads heaven's armies has a day coming. That day is against everyone proud and puffed up. Everyone who lifts himself up will be brought down low.

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

13That day is against the tall cedar trees of Lebanon. It is against the great oak trees of Bashan.

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

14It is against all the high mountains. It is against all the tall hills.

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

15It is against every high tower. It is against every strong city wall.

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

16It is against every big trading ship from Tarshish. It is against every fine, handsome boat.

Note"Pleasant pictures" is old English for fine, handsome ships.

17And 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.

17People's pride will be brought down low. Their proud ways will be made small. On that day, only the LORD will be lifted high.

18And the idols he shall utterly abolish.

18The idols will be gone completely.

19And 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.

19People will run into holes in the rocks. They will hide in caves in the ground. They run from the fear of the LORD and his shining greatness. He will stand up and shake the earth hard.

20In 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;

20On that day, people will throw away their silver and gold idols. They had made those idols so they could bow down to them. Now they will toss them to the moles and the bats.

21To 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.

21They will run into cracks in the rocks and gaps in the rough cliffs. They hide from the fear of the LORD and his shining greatness. He will stand up and shake the earth hard.

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

22Stop putting your trust in people. A person only has breath in his nose. He is not someone you can count on.