Isaiah 18
New American Standard Bible 1995
Message to Ethiopia
18 Alas, oh land of whirring wings
Which lies beyond the rivers of [a](A)Cush,
2 Which sends envoys by the sea,
Even in (B)papyrus vessels on the surface of the waters.
Go, swift messengers, to a nation [b](C)tall and smooth,
To a people (D)feared [c]far and wide,
A powerful and oppressive nation
Whose land the rivers divide.
3 (E)All you inhabitants of the world and dwellers on earth,
As soon as a standard is raised on the mountains, (F)you will see it,
And as soon as the trumpet is blown, you will hear it.
4 For thus the Lord has told me,
“I will look [d]from My (G)dwelling place quietly
Like dazzling heat in the [e](H)sunshine,
Like a cloud of (I)dew in the heat of harvest.”
5 For (J)before the harvest, as soon as the bud [f]blossoms
And the flower becomes a ripening grape,
Then He will cut off the sprigs with pruning knives
And remove and cut away the spreading branches.
6 They will be left together for mountain birds (K)of prey,
And for the beasts of the earth;
And the birds of prey will spend the summer feeding on them,
And all the beasts of the earth will spend harvest time on them.
7 At that time a gift of homage will be brought to the Lord of hosts
[g]From a (L)people [h]tall and smooth,
Even from a people feared [i]far and wide,
A powerful and oppressive nation,
Whose land the rivers divide—
To the (M)place of the name of the Lord of hosts, even Mount Zion.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 18:1 Or Ethiopia
- Isaiah 18:2 Lit drawn out
- Isaiah 18:2 Lit from it and beyond
- Isaiah 18:4 Lit in
- Isaiah 18:4 Lit light
- Isaiah 18:5 Lit is finished
- Isaiah 18:7 So with some ancient versions and DSS; M.T. implies Consisting of a people
- Isaiah 18:7 Lit drawn out
- Isaiah 18:7 Lit from it and beyond
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.