2 Nephi 12

[Here’s what Isaiah-ben-Amoz saw re: Judah and Jerusalem.]

Near the world’s end, the Lord will make a mountain within a mountain, taller than the mountains, and people from everywhere will flow uphill into it. They’ll say, “Let’s go up to this mountain to learn about God’s ways and walk the roads he leads through.”

It’s like God’s law offices. But he’s not only the lawyer, he’s the judge. He pronounces this sentence on the earth: hammer your swords into small plows and bend your spears into tree-hooks. Throw out your war plans: it’s over, folks.

Israel, start walking in the light. You’ve lost your way in the dark. I (Isaiah) do have a complaint with God, though. He’s abandoned his alleged chosen people for their intermarrying and fortunetelling and sex hook-ups with non-tribal partners. Okay, add to that, they’re rich beyond belief and they’re obsessed with travel—horses and chariots, especially— which they use to collect exotic idols or buy tools to make more idols. Poor people kiss the rings of the rich and the rich kiss their own rings. What a pathetic circus.

So, wicked folks—and you know who you are—hide under the rocks, dig forts in the soil, which are the closest you’ll ever get to protection. In time God will wipe the smirks off your faces and bend your necks to worship him and no one else.

Now that I think about it: I herewith withdraw my complaint.

I can’t say when this destruction will happen. But soon enough. All pride will turn to boot-licking. All your wood paneling and specialty furniture will go into the furnace. High-value artwork will get dumped into the sea. I could go on and on.

God will attach an expiration date to idols. When that date arrives he’ll drop them into the cracks in rock formations. (This will be so obvious that no one will be able to say he doesn’t exist.) If any idols survive this purge, their owners will throw them into the sewers for rats to chew on. The idol makers, meanwhile, will hide because God will start to thunder in their ears. The breath running through their nostrils will clog up their minds.