Words that cause us to hope in God

2 This is the message that appeared to Amoz's son, Isaiah, about Judah and Jerusalem.

² This is what will happen in the last days. The mountain where the Lord's temple is will continue to be there. It will be the most important mountain of all. It will be higher than all the hills around it. People from every nation will go there all the time.

³ As they come, people from many nations will say, ‘Come! We will go to the mountain of the Lord, Jacob's God. We will go to worship him at his temple. Then he will teach us how to live in a way that pleases him. We will be able to walk in his paths.’

At that time, Zion will be the place where people learn about what is right. Yes, in Jerusalem the Lord will teach people his message.^[a]

⁴ God will be the judge between different nations. When they argue together, he will say who is right. They will take their swords and they will make them into ploughs. Their spears will become knives to cut their vines. Nations will no longer need weapons to attack other nations. They will not prepare to fight wars any more.

⁵ Jacob's family, come now! We need to live in the light that the Lord gives to us.^[b]

The great day when the Lord will judge everyone

⁶ Lord, you have gone away from your people. They are Jacob's descendants. They are full of ideas from countries in the east. They use magic to learn about future times, as the Philistines do. They join hands with foreign people.

⁷ They are very rich and their land is full of silver and gold. They have many horses, and more chariots than you can count. ⁸ But their land is also full of useless idols. They worship things that they have made with their own hands. ⁹ People bend down low in front of their idols. They even lie flat on the ground!

Lord, do not forgive them!

¹⁰ Go up to the rocks in the hills! Find a hole in the ground where you can hide! Hide from the Lord's great power, because he is coming to punish you! He rules with great authority!

¹¹ The Lord will bring proud people down low. People who boast will have to stop. On that day, people will see that only the Lord is great.

¹² Yes! The Lord Almighty will choose his great day. On that day, he will judge all the proud people who think that they are great. He will bring them all down very low.

¹³ The Lord will cut down the great cedar trees in Lebanon, and the oak trees in Bashan. ¹⁴ He will bring down the high mountains and the highest hills. ¹⁵ He will knock down all the strong towers and walls. ¹⁶ He will destroy the great ships that travel across the seas, and all the beautiful boats.

¹⁷ Like that, the Lord will bring proud people down low. People who boast will have to stop. On that day, people will see that only the Lord is great.

¹⁸ All the useless idols will be there no more.

¹⁹ People will run away to the caves in the hills. They will try to hide in holes in the ground. They will try to escape from the great power of the Lord, when he comes to judge everyone. They will see that he rules with great authority. People will be very afraid when he comes to punish the people on earth.

²⁰ At that time, people will throw away their silver idols and their gold idols. They made those idols so that they could worship them. But now they will throw them into caves where rats and bats live.

²¹ The people themselves will look for caves and holes in the rocks where they can hide. They will try to escape from the Lord's punishment. They will see that he rules with great authority. They will be afraid when he comes to judge the people on earth.

²² Do not trust people to help you. They are weak and they will all die one day. They are not strong enough to help you.