Isaiah 18 (New American Standard Bible)

Isaiah 18

Message to Ethiopia

    ¹Alas, oh land of whirring wings
         Which lies beyond the rivers of ^[a](A)Cush,
    ²Which sends envoys by the sea,
         Even in ^(B)papyrus vessels on the surface of the waters
         Go, swift messengers, to a nation ^(C)tall and smooth,
         To a people ^(D)feared 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.

 ⁴For thus the LORD has told me,
         "I will look from My ^(G)dwelling place quietly
         Like dazzling heat in the ^(H)sunshine,
         Like a cloud of ^(I)dew in the heat of harvest."
    ⁵For ^(J)before the harvest, as soon as the bud 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.
    ⁶They 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.
    ⁷At that time a gift of homage will be brought to the LORD of hosts
         From a ^(L)people tall and smooth,
         Even from a people feared 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.