diff --git a/command/format_plan.go b/command/format_plan.go
index 6b7e69485..6ebf2ecc8 100644
--- a/command/format_plan.go
+++ b/command/format_plan.go
@@ -12,6 +12,10 @@ import (
 
 // FormatPlan takes a plan and returns a
 func FormatPlan(p *terraform.Plan, c *colorstring.Colorize) string {
+	if p.Diff == nil || p.Diff.Empty() {
+		return "This plan does nothing."
+	}
+
 	if c == nil {
 		c = &colorstring.Colorize{
 			Colors: colorstring.DefaultColors,
diff --git a/command/format_state.go b/command/format_state.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2b31a9b51
--- /dev/null
+++ b/command/format_state.go
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+package command
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"fmt"
+	"sort"
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/terraform"
+	"github.com/mitchellh/colorstring"
+)
+
+// FormatState takes a state and returns a string
+func FormatState(s *terraform.State, c *colorstring.Colorize) string {
+	if len(s.Resources) == 0 {
+		return "The state file is empty. No resources are represented."
+	}
+
+	if c == nil {
+		c = &colorstring.Colorize{
+			Colors: colorstring.DefaultColors,
+			Reset:  false,
+		}
+	}
+
+	buf := new(bytes.Buffer)
+	buf.WriteString("[reset]")
+
+	// First get the names of all the resources so we can show them
+	// in alphabetical order.
+	names := make([]string, 0, len(s.Resources))
+	for name, _ := range s.Resources {
+		names = append(names, name)
+	}
+	sort.Strings(names)
+
+	// Go through each resource and begin building up the output.
+	for _, k := range names {
+		rs := s.Resources[k]
+		id := rs.ID
+		if id == "" {
+			id = "<not created>"
+		}
+
+		buf.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("%s:\n", k))
+		buf.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("  id = %s\n", id))
+
+		// Sort the attributes
+		attrKeys := make([]string, 0, len(rs.Attributes))
+		for ak, _ := range rs.Attributes {
+			// Skip the id attribute since we just show the id directly
+			if ak == "id" {
+				continue
+			}
+
+			attrKeys = append(attrKeys, ak)
+		}
+		sort.Strings(attrKeys)
+
+		// Output each attribute
+		for _, ak := range attrKeys {
+			av := rs.Attributes[ak]
+			buf.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("  %s = %s\n", ak, av))
+		}
+	}
+
+	if len(s.Outputs) > 0 {
+		buf.WriteString("\nOutputs:\n\n")
+
+		// Sort the outputs
+		ks := make([]string, 0, len(s.Outputs))
+		for k, _ := range s.Outputs {
+			ks = append(ks, k)
+		}
+		sort.Strings(ks)
+
+		// Output each output k/v pair
+		for _, k := range ks {
+			v := s.Outputs[k]
+			buf.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("%s = %s\n", k, v))
+		}
+	}
+
+	return strings.TrimSpace(buf.String())
+}
diff --git a/command/graph_test.go b/command/graph_test.go
index f95089def..0a74726e7 100644
--- a/command/graph_test.go
+++ b/command/graph_test.go
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ func TestGraph(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestGraph_multipleArgs(t *testing.T) {
 	ui := new(cli.MockUi)
-	c := &ApplyCommand{
+	c := &GraphCommand{
 		ContextOpts: testCtxConfig(testProvider()),
 		Ui:          ui,
 	}
diff --git a/command/show.go b/command/show.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0d5ebce59
--- /dev/null
+++ b/command/show.go
@@ -0,0 +1,96 @@
+package command
+
+import (
+	"flag"
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/terraform"
+	"github.com/mitchellh/cli"
+)
+
+// ShowCommand is a Command implementation that reads and outputs the
+// contents of a Terraform plan or state file.
+type ShowCommand struct {
+	ContextOpts *terraform.ContextOpts
+	Ui          cli.Ui
+}
+
+func (c *ShowCommand) Run(args []string) int {
+	cmdFlags := flag.NewFlagSet("show", flag.ContinueOnError)
+	cmdFlags.Usage = func() { c.Ui.Error(c.Help()) }
+	if err := cmdFlags.Parse(args); err != nil {
+		return 1
+	}
+
+	args = cmdFlags.Args()
+	if len(args) != 1 {
+		c.Ui.Error(
+			"The show command expects exactly one argument with the path\n" +
+				"to a Terraform state or plan file.\n")
+		cmdFlags.Usage()
+		return 1
+	}
+	path := args[0]
+
+	var plan *terraform.Plan
+	var state *terraform.State
+
+	f, err := os.Open(path)
+	if err != nil {
+		c.Ui.Error(fmt.Sprintf("Error loading file: %s", err))
+		return 1
+	}
+
+	var planErr, stateErr error
+	plan, err = terraform.ReadPlan(f)
+	if err != nil {
+		if _, err := f.Seek(0, 0); err != nil {
+			c.Ui.Error(fmt.Sprintf("Error reading file: %s", err))
+			return 1
+		}
+
+		plan = nil
+		planErr = err
+	}
+	if plan == nil {
+		state, err = terraform.ReadState(f)
+		if err != nil {
+			stateErr = err
+		}
+	}
+	if plan == nil && state == nil {
+		c.Ui.Error(fmt.Sprintf(
+			"Terraform couldn't read the given file as a state or plan file.\n"+
+				"The errors while attempting to read the file as each format are\n"+
+				"shown below.\n\n"+
+				"State read error: %s\n\nPlan read error: %s",
+			stateErr,
+			planErr))
+		return 1
+	}
+
+	if plan != nil {
+		c.Ui.Output(FormatPlan(plan, nil))
+		return 0
+	}
+
+	c.Ui.Output(FormatState(state, nil))
+	return 0
+}
+
+func (c *ShowCommand) Help() string {
+	helpText := `
+Usage: terraform show [options] path
+
+  Reads and outputs a Terraform state or plan file in a human-readable
+  form.
+
+`
+	return strings.TrimSpace(helpText)
+}
+
+func (c *ShowCommand) Synopsis() string {
+	return "Inspect Terraform state or plan"
+}
diff --git a/command/show_test.go b/command/show_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b33f630e9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/command/show_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+package command
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/config"
+	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/terraform"
+	"github.com/mitchellh/cli"
+)
+
+func TestShow(t *testing.T) {
+	ui := new(cli.MockUi)
+	c := &ShowCommand{
+		ContextOpts: testCtxConfig(testProvider()),
+		Ui:          ui,
+	}
+
+	args := []string{
+		"bad",
+		"bad",
+	}
+	if code := c.Run(args); code != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: \n%s", ui.OutputWriter.String())
+	}
+}
+
+func TestShow_noArgs(t *testing.T) {
+	ui := new(cli.MockUi)
+	c := &ShowCommand{
+		ContextOpts: testCtxConfig(testProvider()),
+		Ui:          ui,
+	}
+
+	args := []string{}
+	if code := c.Run(args); code != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: \n%s", ui.OutputWriter.String())
+	}
+}
+
+func TestShow_plan(t *testing.T) {
+	planPath := testPlanFile(t, &terraform.Plan{
+		Config: new(config.Config),
+	})
+
+	ui := new(cli.MockUi)
+	c := &ShowCommand{
+		ContextOpts: testCtxConfig(testProvider()),
+		Ui:          ui,
+	}
+
+	args := []string{
+		planPath,
+	}
+	if code := c.Run(args); code != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: \n%s", ui.ErrorWriter.String())
+	}
+}
+
+func TestShow_state(t *testing.T) {
+	originalState := &terraform.State{
+		Resources: map[string]*terraform.ResourceState{
+			"test_instance.foo": &terraform.ResourceState{
+				ID:   "bar",
+				Type: "test_instance",
+			},
+		},
+	}
+
+	statePath := testStateFile(t, originalState)
+
+	ui := new(cli.MockUi)
+	c := &ShowCommand{
+		ContextOpts: testCtxConfig(testProvider()),
+		Ui:          ui,
+	}
+
+	args := []string{
+		statePath,
+	}
+	if code := c.Run(args); code != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: \n%s", ui.ErrorWriter.String())
+	}
+}
diff --git a/commands.go b/commands.go
index 48d57cbfe..d7aa46eb9 100644
--- a/commands.go
+++ b/commands.go
@@ -56,6 +56,13 @@ func init() {
 			}, nil
 		},
 
+		"show": func() (cli.Command, error) {
+			return &command.ShowCommand{
+				ContextOpts: &ContextOpts,
+				Ui:          Ui,
+			}, nil
+		},
+
 		"version": func() (cli.Command, error) {
 			return &command.VersionCommand{
 				Revision:          GitCommit,