Scripture Verse

And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains. Isaiah 2:2

Introduction

Words: Mi­chael Bruce (1746–1767). Adapt­ed by John Lo­gan in Trans­la­tions and Pa­ra­phras­es in Verse of Sev­er­al Pas­sag­es of Sac­red Scrip­tures and Pre­pared by a Com­mit­tee of the Ge­ne­ral As­sem­bly of the Church of Scot­land in Or­der to Be Sung in Church­es (Ed­in­burgh, Scot­land: J. Dick­son, 1781).

Music: Glas­gow Moore’s Psalm Sing­er’s Pock­et Com­pan­ion, 1756 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Lyrics

Behold! the mount­ain of the Lord
In lat­ter days shall rise
On mount­ain tops ab­ove the hills,
And draw the won­der­ing eyes.

To this the joy­ful na­tions round,
All tribes and tongues, shall flow;
Up to the hill of God, they’ll say,
And to His house we’ll go.

The beam that shines from Zi­on hill
Shall light­en ev­ery land;
The King who reigns in Sa­lem’s tow­ers
Shall all the world com­mand.

Among the na­tions He shall judge;
His judg­ments truth shall guide;
His scep­ter shall pro­tect the just,
And quell the sin­ner’s pride.

No strife shall vex Mes­si­ah’s reign
Or mar the peace­ful years;
To plow­shares soon they beat their swords
To prun­ing hooks their spears.

No long­er hosts en­coun­ter­ing hosts,
Their mill­ions slain de­plore;
They hang the trum­pets in the hall
And stu­dy war no more.

Come then, O house of Ja­cob, come
To wor­ship at His shrine;
And, walk­ing in the light of God,
With ho­ly beau­ties shine.

A si­mi­lar ano­ny­mous ver­sion ap­peared in 1745:

In lat­ter days, the Mount of God,
His sacr­ed house shall rise
Above the mount­ains and the hills,
And strike the won­der­ing eyes.

To this the joy­ful na­tions round,
All tribes and tongues shall flow;
Up to the house of God they’ll say,
To Ja­cob’s God, we’ll go.

To us He’ll point the ways of truth:
The sac­red path we’ll tread
From Sa­lem and from Zi­on-Hill
His law shall then pro­ceed.

Among the na­tions and the isles,
As Judge su­preme, He’ll sit:
And, vest­ed with un­bound­ed pow­er
Will pun­ish or ac­quit.

No strife shall rage, nor ang­ry feuds,
Disturb these peace­ful years;
To plow­shares then they’ll beat their swords,
To prun­ing hooks their spears.

Then na­tion shan’t ’gainst na­tion rise,
And slaugh­tered house de­plore:
They’ll lay the use­less trum­pet by,
And stu­dy war no more.

O come ye, then, of Ja­cob’s house,
Our hearts now let us join:
And, walk­ing in the light of God,
With ho­ly beau­ties shine.

Finally, a version by Je­re­my Bel­knap, which ap­peared in Sac­red Po­et­ry Con­sist­ing of Psalms and Hymns Adapt­ed to Chris­tian De­vo­tion, in Pub­lick and Pri­vate. Se­lect­ed from the Best Au­thors, with Va­ri­ations and Ad­di­tions (Bos­ton, Mas­sa­chu­setts: 1795).

O’er mount­ain tops, the mount of God
In lat­ter days, shall rise
Above the sum­mits of the hills,
And draw the won­der­ing eyes.

To this the joy­ful na­tions round,
All tribes and tongues shall flow;
Up to the mount of God, they say,
And to His house we’ll go.

The beams that shine from Zi­on’s hill
Shall light­en ev­ery land;
The King, who reigns in Sa­lem’s tow­ers
Shall the whole world com­mand.

Among the na­tions He shall judge,
His judg­ments truth shall guide;
His scep­ter shall pro­tect the just,
And crush the sin­ner’s pride.

No war shall rage, nor hos­tile strife
Disturb those hap­py years;
To plough shares men shall beat their swords,
To prun­ing hooks their spears.

No long­er hosts, en­coun­ter­ing hosts,
Shall crowds of slain de­plore;
They’ll lay the mar­tial trum­pet by,
And stu­dy war no more.