Isaiah 18

1Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia:

2That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!footnote afootnote bfootnote c

3All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye.

4For so the LORD said unto me, I will take my rest, and I will consider in my dwelling place like a clear heat upon herbs, and like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.footnote dfootnote e

5For afore the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, he shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks, and take away and cut down the branches.

6They shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them.

7In that time shall the present be brought unto the LORD of hosts of a people scattered and peeled, and from a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the place of the name of the LORD of hosts, the mount Zion.footnote f

A Message to Cush

1Woe to the land of whirring wings,footnote aalong the rivers of Cush,footnote b 2which sends couriers by sea,in papyrus vessels on the waters.Go, swift messengers,to a people tall and smooth-skinned,to a people widely feared,to a powerful nation of strange speech,whose land is divided by rivers. 3All you people of the worldand dwellers of the earth,when a banner is raised on the mountains,you will see it;when a ram’s horn sounds,you will hear it.

4For this is what the LORD has told me:“I will quietly look on from My dwelling place,like shimmering heat in the sunshine,like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”

5For before the harvest, when the blossom is goneand the flower becomes a ripening grape,He will cut off the shoots with a pruning knifeand remove and discard the branches. 6They will all be left to the mountain birds of prey,and to the beasts of the land.The birds will feed on them in summer,and all the wild animals in winter.

7At that time gifts will be brought to the LORD of Hosts—from a people tall and smooth-skinned,from a people widely feared,from a powerful nation of strange speech,whose land is divided by rivers—to Mount Zion, the place of the Name of the LORD of Hosts.