Isaiah 18

Message to Ethiopia

1Woe, land of whirring wings Which lies beyond the rivers of 12Cush,2Which sends messengers by the sea, Even in 3papyrus vessels on the surface of the waters. Go, swift messengers, to a nation 45tall and smooth, To a people 6feared 7far and wide, A powerful and oppressive nation Whose land the rivers divide.38All you who inhabit the world, and live on earth, As soon as a flag is raised on the mountains, 9you will see it, And as soon as the trumpet is blown, you will hear it. 4For this is what the Lord has told me: “I will quietly look 10from My 11dwelling place Like dazzling heat in the 1213sunshine, Like a cloud of 14dew in the heat of harvest.”5For 15before the harvest, as soon as the bud 16blossoms And the flower becomes a ripening grape, He will cut off the shoots with pruning knives, And remove and tear away the spreading branches.6They will be left together for mountain birds 17of prey, And for the animals of the earth; And the birds of prey will spend the summer feeding on them, And all the animals of the earth will spend harvest time on them.7At that time a gift of tribute will be brought to the Lord of armies 18From a 19people 20tall and smooth, From a people feared 21far and wide, A powerful and oppressive nation, Whose land the rivers divide-- To the 22place of the name of the Lord of armies, to Mount Zion.