The Lord’s Message to Cush

18 Woe to the land of buzzing insect wings[a]
beyond the rivers of Cush,(A)
which sends envoys by sea,
in reed vessels over the water.
Go, swift messengers,
to a nation tall and smooth-skinned,
to a people feared far and near,
a powerful nation with a strange language,[b]
whose land is divided by rivers.
All you inhabitants of the world
and you who live on the earth,
when a banner is raised on the mountains, look!
When a ram’s horn sounds, listen!

For the Lord said to me:

I will quietly look out from my place,
like shimmering heat in sunshine,
like a rain cloud in harvest heat.
For before the harvest, when the blossoming is over
and the blossom becomes a ripening grape,
he will cut off the shoots with a pruning knife,
and tear away and remove the branches.
They will all be left for the birds of prey on the hills
and for the wild animals of the land.
The birds of prey will spend the summer feeding on them,
and all the wild animals the winter.

At that time a gift will be brought to the Lord of Armies from[c] a people tall and smooth-skinned,(B) a people feared far and near, a powerful nation with a strange language, whose land is divided by rivers—to Mount Zion, the place of the name of the Lord of Armies.

Footnotes

  1. 18:1 Or of sailing ships
  2. 18:2 Hb obscure
  3. 18:7 DSS, LXX, Vg; MT omits from

A Prophecy Against Cush

18 Woe(A) to the land of whirring wings[a]
    along the rivers of Cush,[b](B)
which sends envoys(C) by sea
    in papyrus(D) boats over the water.

Go, swift messengers,
to a people tall and smooth-skinned,(E)
    to a people feared far and wide,
an aggressive(F) nation of strange speech,
    whose land is divided by rivers.(G)

All you people of the world,(H)
    you who live on the earth,
when a banner(I) is raised on the mountains,
    you will see it,
and when a trumpet(J) sounds,
    you will hear it.
This is what the Lord says to me:
    “I will remain quiet(K) and will look on from my dwelling place,(L)
like shimmering heat in the sunshine,(M)
    like a cloud of dew(N) in the heat of harvest.”
For, before the harvest, when the blossom is gone
    and the flower becomes a ripening grape,
he will cut off(O) the shoots with pruning knives,
    and cut down and take away the spreading branches.(P)
They will all be left to the mountain birds of prey(Q)
    and to the wild animals;(R)
the birds will feed on them all summer,
    the wild animals all winter.

At that time gifts(S) will be brought to the Lord Almighty

from a people tall and smooth-skinned,(T)
    from a people feared(U) far and wide,
an aggressive nation of strange speech,
    whose land is divided by rivers(V)

the gifts will be brought to Mount Zion, the place of the Name of the Lord Almighty.(W)

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 18:1 Or of locusts
  2. Isaiah 18:1 That is, the upper Nile region