Isaiah 18

An Oracle Concerning Cush

1. Ah, land of whirring wings 1 that is beyond the rivers of Cush,[a]

2. which sends ambassadors by the sea, 2 in vessels of papyrus on the waters! 2 Go, you swift messengers, 2 to a nation tall and smooth, 2 to a people feared near and far, 2 a nation mighty and conquering, 2 whose land the rivers divide.

3. All you inhabitants of the world, 3 you who dwell on the earth, 3 when a signal is raised on the mountains, look! 3 When a trumpet is blown, hear!

4. For thus the Lord said to me: 4 “I will quietly look from my dwelling 4 like clear heat in sunshine, 4 like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”

5. For before the harvest, when the blossom is over, 5 and the flower becomes a ripening grape, 5 he cuts off the shoots with pruning hooks, 5 and the spreading branches he lops off and clears away.

6. They shall all of them be left 6 to the birds of prey of the mountains 6 and to the beasts of the earth. 6 And the birds of prey will summer on them, 6 and all the beasts of the earth will winter on them.

7. At that time tribute will be brought to the Lord of hosts 7 from a people tall and smooth, 7 from a people feared near and far, 7 a nation mighty and conquering, 7 whose land the rivers divide, 7 to Mount Zion, the place of the name of the Lord of hosts.

Footnotes:
a. Isaiah 18:1: Probably Nubia