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TitleIsaiah 2
Publication TypeBook Chapter
Year of Publication2022
AuthorsParry, Donald W.
Book TitleThe Book of Isaiah: A New Translation (Preliminary Edition)
PublisherBook of Mormon Central
CitySpringville, UT

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The Mountain (Temple) of the Lord (2:1–5)

Isaiah

2 1The word that Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. 2And it will come to pass in the last days, [when][1] the mountain of the LORD’s House

will be established at the top of the mountains[2],
and it will be elevated above the hills,

then all nations will flow like a river[3] to it.
3And many peoples will come and say,

God’s covenant people

“Come,
and let us go up[4]

to the mountain of the LORD,
to the House of the God of Jacob,

that He may teach[5] us of His ways
and that we may walk in His paths;

because from Zion the law will go forth,
and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.”

Isaiah

4And He will judge among the nations,
and He will settle the case for many peoples.

And they will hammer their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.

And nation will not lift up a sword against nation,
nor will they learn war again.

5O house of Jacob, come, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.
[Yea, come, for you have all gone astray, everyone to his wicked ways.][6]

 

Isaiah’s Address (Prayer) to the LORD (2:6–9)

Isaiah

6Surely, [O Lord][7], You have forsaken Your people, the house of Jacob,
because they are filled from the east

and [hearken unto] soothsayers like the Philistines,
and they clap hands[8] with foreigners.

7Their land is full of silver and gold,
and there is no end to their treasures.

Their land is full of horses,
and there is no end to their chariots.

8And their land is full of idols;
they bow down to the work of their hands,
that which their fingers have made.

9And the human has [not] bowed down,
and man has [not] been brought down; do not forgive [him].

The Day of the Lord (2:10–22)

Isaiah

10[O you wicked ones,][9] enter into the rock, and hide in the dust;
because the fear of the LORD and His majesty [will smite you].

11[And it will come to pass that][10] the eyes of the arrogant human will become low,
and the highness of [man][11] will bow down,

and the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.

12For the day of the LORD of Hosts [soon comes upon all nations][12];

[yea, upon everyone;
yea,] upon the proud and lifted up,

and upon everyone who is arrogant;
but such will be brought low.

13[Yea, and the day of the LORD will come][13] upon all the cedars of Lebanon,
[for they][14] are high and elevated, and upon all the oaks of Bashan,

14and upon all the high mountains,
and upon all the hills

[and upon all the nations that][15] are elevated,
[and upon every people][16].

15And upon every tall tower,
and upon every fortified wall,

16[and upon all the ships of the sea,][17]
and upon all the ships of Tarshish,
and upon all luxury ships.

17And the loftiness of the human will bow down,
and the height of men will be made low,

and the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.

18And the idols will completely disappear.

19And {people} will come into the caves of the rocks
and into the caverns of the ground,

for the fear of the LORD [will come upon them,][18]
and the glory of His majesty [will smite them]
when He arises to cause the earth to tremble.

20In that day the human will cast away his idols of silver
and his idols of gold, which he has made for himself to worship,

to the moles
and to the bats[19],

21to come into the crevices of the rocks
and into the clefts of the cliffs,

for fear of the LORD [will come upon them][20],
and the majesty [of the Lord will smite them] when He arises to cause the earth to tremble.

22Cease from the human, whose breath is in his nostrils;
for does he merit esteem?



[1] Bracketed word is from JST and 2 Nephi 12:2.

[2] “Top” (from the Hebrew r’sh) literally means “head”; but it also denotes the chief or highest ranking. God’s temple, therefore, is God’s highest-ranking institution—one of utmost importance and of great prominence.

[3] Isaiah skillfully took the Hebrew noun for river (nhr) and made a verb out of it, thus the translation is literally “to river,” “to flow like a river,” or “to stream.”

[4] The Hebrew term alah (“go up,” “ascend”) is a watchword utilized by prophets in connection with individuals who ascend to God’s temples.

[5] The Hebrew Torah (“law”) is derived from the verb “to teach.”

[6] Bracketed words in verse 10 are from JST and 2 Nephi 12:5.

[7] Note that the bracketed items in verses 6–9 are from the JST and 2 Nephi 12:6–9.

[8] The Hebrew underlying “clap hands” (sfq) can also be translated “clasped hands” or “exchange handshakes,” either in business or trade agreements or in false temple worship.

[9] The bracketed expressions in verses 10 and 11 are from JST and 2 Nephi 12:10–11.

[10] From JST and 2 Nephi 12:11.

[11] From JST.

[12] Bracketed words in verse 12 are from JST and 2 Nephi 12:12.

[13] From JST and 2 Nephi 12:13.

[14] From JST and 2 Nephi 12:13.

[15] From JST and 2 Nephi 12:14.

[16] From 2 Nephi 12:14.

[17] From JST and 2 Nephi 12:16.

[18] Bracketed words in verse 19 are from JST and 2 Nephi 12:19.

[19] This reading is from DSS Isaiah.

[20] Bracketed words in verse 21 are from JST and 2 Nephi 12:21.

 

Scripture Reference

Isaiah 2:1