Isaiah 2 (WEB)

Isaiah 2

¹ This is what Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

² It shall happen in the latter days, that the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it.

³ Many peoples shall go and say, “Come, let’s 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 the law shall go out of Zion, and the LORD’s word from Jerusalem.

⁴ He will judge between the nations, and will decide concerning many peoples. 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 any more.

⁵ House of Jacob, come, and let’s walk in the light of the LORD.

⁶ For you have forsaken your people, the house of Jacob, because they are filled from the east, with those who practice divination like the Philistines, and they clasp hands with the children of foreigners.

⁷ Their land is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures. Their land also is 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 Man is brought low, and mankind is humbled; therefore don’t forgive them.

¹⁰ Enter into the rock, and hide in the dust, from before the terror of the LORD, and from the glory of his majesty.

¹¹ The lofty looks of man will be brought low, the arrogance of men will be bowed down, and the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.

¹² For there will be a day of the LORD of Armies for all that is proud and arrogant, and for all that is lifted up, and it shall be brought low—

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

¹⁴ for all the high mountains, for all the hills that are lifted up,

¹⁵ for every lofty tower, for every fortified wall,

¹⁶ for all the ships of Tarshish, and for all pleasant imagery.

¹⁷ The loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the arrogance of men shall be brought low; and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.

¹⁸ The idols shall utterly pass away.

¹⁹ Men shall go into the caves of the rocks, and into the holes of the earth, from before the terror of the LORD, and from the glory of his majesty, when he arises to shake the earth mightily.

²⁰ In that day, men shall cast away their idols of silver and their idols of gold, which have been made for themselves to worship, to the moles and to the bats,

²¹ to go into the caverns of the rocks, and into the clefts of the ragged rocks, from before the terror of the LORD, and from the glory of his majesty, when he arises to shake the earth mightily.

²² Stop trusting in man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for of what account is he?

Around Isaiah 2

Context

Context for this book is being written. A note appears here only once it names its sources.

AI explanation

About Isaiah as a whole · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this book is about

It begins with a vision. In the year that King Uzziah died, the prophet sees the Lord on a throne, high and lifted up, and voices call, “Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of Armies!” Then comes a call for someone to go, and the answer, “Here I am. Send me!”

What he is sent to say is hard and then tender. To Judah and Jerusalem, the first part of the book (chapters 1 to 39) warns of the consequences of injustice and false trust, and it promises a child who will rule on David’s throne. The second part (40 to 55) opens with “Comfort, comfort my people” and speaks to a people in exile, and it tells of a servant who suffers for others. The last part (56 to 66) looks ahead to a renewed people and to a new heavens and a new earth.

Background

Isaiah son of Amoz prophesied in Jerusalem in the second half of the eighth century before Christ, while the Assyrian threat hung over the land. Many scholars think chapters 40 to 66 come from later prophets in his tradition, speaking during and after the exile. Others hold that Isaiah wrote the whole book. Either way, the book reads as one long conversation between God and a people who swing between fear and false confidence.

How Christians read it

No prophet is quoted more in the New Testament. Readers have long weighed who the suffering servant is. Christians read the servant of chapter 53 as fulfilled in the death of Jesus, and Jewish interpretation has most often understood the servant as Israel. Passages such as 7:14 and 9:6 are read by Christians as pointing to Christ, while also having a meaning in Isaiah’s own day. These are old readings held by people who love the same pages.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 20 October 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

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