Isaiah 2:3 - Printer Friendly

ESV: and 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.

NIV: Many 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.

NASB: And many peoples will come and say, 'Come, let’s go up to the mountain of the Lord, To the house of the God of Jacob; So that He may teach us about His ways, And that we may walk in His paths.' For the law will go out from Zion And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

CSB: and many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us about his ways so that we may walk in his paths." For instruction will go out of Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

NLT: People from many nations will come and say, 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of Jacob’s God. There he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths.' For the Lord’s teaching will go out from Zion; his word will go out from Jerusalem.

KJV: 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.

NKJV: Many people shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

Isaiah is describing an unthinkable circumstance for those sitting in his moment of history. He has said that the mountain of the Lord, the temple mount in Jerusalem, where Israel's God is worshipped, will become the most important of all the mountains of the world (Isaiah 2:2).

People from all over the world, including non-Jews, will journey to Jerusalem to learn of God's ways and walk in His paths. They will be taught by the God of Jacob Himself. The law and the Word of the Lord will be delivered from Zion, from Jerusalem. The word for law in Hebrew is torah. It means "instructions." God will instruct the people of the world how to follow His paths to become like Him. In other words, all peoples will abandon all other religions to learn from and obey Israel's God.

Later verses give more detail about this hopeful future (Isaiah 2:4).

Isaiah 2:1–5 describes an impossible-seeming time in Israel's future: when the Lord will reign over the entire earth from Jerusalem. People from all the Gentile nations will flock to Israel and to Jerusalem to learn from the Lord how to walk in His ways. He will judge the nations, resolving all disputes, and bringing about a time so secure that no nation will even prepare for war anymore. Isaiah urges the Israelites of his day to not wait and to walk in the Lord's light now.

Isaiah describes Israel's far future as a time when all the nations of the earth will recognize Israel's God as the Lord. They will come to Jerusalem to learn from Him how to live. Isaiah tells his people to walk in the light of the Lord now. Instead, they worship false gods, follow fortune tellers, and make deals. Their great wealth, military might, and endless homemade idols will not save them from the God's judgment on day of the Lord. Human arrogance will be brought low as the Lord is exalted. Isaiah summarizes the chapter with a warning not to trust fallible people, instead of God.

Isaiah 2 follows the summation of the first chapter by reintroducing the prophet. He describes Israel's distant future. Someday, all the people of earth will come to Jerusalem to learn how to live from Israel's God. For now, though, the Lord has rejected His people. On the day of the Lord, however, those idols will be left behind in the caves in which the people attempt to hide from God's majesty. Later chapters of this book will explain more about how this prophecy will come to be.

Isaiah is among the most important prophetic books in the entire Bible. The first segment details God's impending judgment against ancient peoples for sin and idolatry (Isaiah 1—35). The second part of Isaiah briefly explains a failed assault on Jerusalem during the rule of Hezekiah (Isaiah 36—39). The final chapters predict Israel's rescue from Babylonian captivity (Isaiah 40—48), the promised Messiah (Isaiah 49—57), and the final glory of Jerusalem and God's people (Isaiah 58—66).