Isaiah 18
Evangelical Heritage Version
A Prophecy About Cush
18 Woe to the land of the whirring wings, along the rivers of Cush.[a]
2 They send ambassadors by sea, in papyrus boats on the water.
Go, you swift messengers,
to a tall people with smooth, dark skin,[b]
to a nation feared far and near,
a nation powerful and conquering,[c]
from a land divided by rivers!
3 All you inhabitants of the world,
and you who dwell on the earth,
look for a signal flag raised on the mountains!
Listen for the blast of the ram’s horn!
4 For the Lord has said to me,
“I will look on quietly from my dwelling place,
like the shimmering heat of the sun,
like the rising mist at harvest time.”
5 For before the harvest,
after the blossom has fallen
and the flower has turned into ripening grapes,
the Lord will cut off the new shoots with pruning hooks,
and he will cut down and remove the longer vines.
6 They will all be left for the scavenging birds in the mountains
and for the wild animals in the countryside.
The scavenging birds will feed on them all summer,
and wild animals will feed on them all winter.
7 At that time people will give gifts to the Lord of Armies.
These gifts will come from a tall people with smooth, dark skin,
a nation feared far and near,
a nation powerful and conquering,
from a land divided by rivers.
They will bring their gifts to Mount Zion,
the place where the Lord of Armies has put his name.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 18:1 Cush is the ancient name for the territory south of the First Cataract of the Nile. Called Ethiopia in Roman times, it included most of present-day Sudan and some of present-day Ethiopia.
- Isaiah 18:2 Literally polished skin
- Isaiah 18:2 Or a powerful nation with a strange language. The last two lines of the verse are difficult.
Isaiah 18
Lexham English Bible
Oracle of Judgment on Cush
18 Ah! land of the whirring of wings,
which is beyond the rivers of Cush,
2 that sends messengers by the sea
and in vessels of papyrus on the surface of the waters!
Go, swift messengers, to a tall[a] and smooth[b] nation,
to a people feared near and far,[c]
a mighty, mighty[d] and trampling[e] nation,
whose land rivers divide.
3 All you inhabitants of the world
and dwellers of the earth,
when a signal is raised on the[f] mountains, you must look,
and when a trumpet is blown,[g] you must listen!
4 For Yahweh said this to me:
“I will be quiet,
and I will look from my dwelling place
like clear heat because of light,[h]
like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”
5 For before the harvest, when the blossom is complete[i]
and a blossom becomes ripening fruit,
and one cuts off the shoots with pruning hooks,
and one removes, tears away the tendrils.
6 They shall all be left[j] for birds[k] of prey of the mountains
and for the animals[l] of the earth.
And the birds[m] of prey will pass the summer on it,
and every animal of the earth will winter on it.
7 At that time, a gift[n] will be brought to Yahweh of hosts
from a tall[o] and smooth[p] people,
and from a people feared near and far,
a mighty, mighty and trampling nation,
whose land the rivers divide,
to the place of the name of Yahweh of hosts,
the mountain of Zion.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 18:2 Literally “stretched out”
- Isaiah 18:2 Literally “peeled,” “wiped clean,” or “hairless”
- Isaiah 18:2 Literally “from this and beyond”
- Isaiah 18:2 Perhaps this is a gibberish phrase in Hebrew, qaw-qaw
- Isaiah 18:2 Meaning uncertain
- Isaiah 18:3 Literally “as a raising of a signal”
- Isaiah 18:3 Literally “as a blowing of a trumpet”
- Isaiah 18:4 The meaning of this phrase is uncertain; perhaps the “light” is sunlight
- Isaiah 18:5 Literally “as a completion of a blossom”
- Isaiah 18:6 Literally “be left together”
- Isaiah 18:6 Hebrew “bird”
- Isaiah 18:6 Hebrew “animal”
- Isaiah 18:6 Hebrew “bird”
- Isaiah 18:7 Perhaps tribute is meant
- Isaiah 18:7 Literally “stretched out”
- Isaiah 18:7 Literally “peeled,” “wiped clean,” or “hairless”
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.
2012 by Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software