According to Victor Ludlow, one interesting point in 2 Nephi 12:1 is that Isaiah “saw” the word he delivered. It is difficult to know how he “saw the word,” whether he saw it written out on an actual scroll or in a vision of a heavenly book (as Lehi did; 1 Nephi 1:11-14).
Interestingly, the first words Isaiah records in verses 2-4, (“And it shall come to pass in the last days, when the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it”), are also found with only slight variations in Micah 4:1-4. It may be that Isaiah “saw” the words of Micah or that he “saw” his own vision and Micah borrowed his words. Or, both prophets may have read the prophecy of some earlier prophet. Scholars differ in their opinions on which of these possibilities best explains the textual similarities. There is yet a fourth possibility, however, that seems plausible, particularly to Latter-day Saints: Isaiah and Micah, by virtue of their prophetic callings, each “saw” the same heavenly vision and were inspired to record it in essentially the same words. Since Isaiah and Micah were contemporaries dealing with the same people and problems, it seems likely that they would share similar spiritual manifestations. Precedents for this explanation exist elsewhere in the scriptures, because several prophets far distant from each other have recorded the same inspired messages: compare the “charity” sermon in 1 Corinthians 13 with Moroni 7, and the discourse on gifts of the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12 with Moroni 10 and Doctrine and Covenants section 46. Certainly it is possible for two prophets to use the same vocabulary in recording revelations if, as the Lord said, “these words are not of men, nor of man, but of me.” (D&C 18:34) [Victor L. Ludlow, Isaiah: Prophet, Seer, and Poet, pp. 85-86]
2 Nephi 12:1 The word that Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem ([Illustration] Isaiah. The prophet Isaiah saw many events that would take place in the latter days. Nephi included some of Isaiah’s prophecies in his own record and encouraged readers to “liken them unto [themselves] and unto all men.” Artist: Robert T. Barrett. [Thomas R. Valletta ed., The Book of Mormon for Latter-day Saint Families, 1999, p. 102]
2 Nephi 12:2-3 In the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains ([Illustration] The Salt Lake temple stands near the foothills of the Wasatch Mountains. Its soaring pinnacles and peaks recall the holy mountains of ancient times. This great temple, which hundreds of thousands have visited, partially fulfills Isaiah’s prophecy that “all nations shall flow” to “the mountain of the Lord’s house.” [Donald W. Parry, Visualizing Isaiah, p. 98]