Isaiah 18
New American Standard Bible
Message to Ethiopia
18 Woe, land of whirring wings
Which lies beyond the rivers of [a](A)Cush,
2 Which sends messengers by the sea,
Even in (B)papyrus vessels on the surface of the waters.
Go, swift messengers, to a nation [b](C)tall and smooth,
To a people (D)feared [c]far and wide,
A powerful and oppressive nation
Whose land the rivers divide.
3 (E)All you who inhabit the world, and live on earth,
As soon as a flag is raised on the mountains, (F)you will see it,
And as soon as the trumpet is blown, you will hear it.
4 For this is what the Lord has told me:
“I will quietly look [d]from My (G)dwelling place
Like dazzling heat in the [e](H)sunshine,
Like a cloud of (I)dew in the heat of harvest.”
5 For (J)before the harvest, as soon as the bud [f]blossoms
And the flower becomes a ripening grape,
He will cut off the shoots with pruning knives,
And remove and tear away the spreading branches.
6 They will be left together for mountain birds (K)of 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.
7 At that time a gift of tribute will be brought to the Lord of armies
[g]From a (L)people [h]tall and smooth,
From a people feared [i]far and wide,
A powerful and oppressive nation,
Whose land the rivers divide—
To the (M)place of the name of the Lord of armies, to Mount Zion.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 18:1 Or Ethiopia
- Isaiah 18:2 Lit drawn out
- Isaiah 18:2 Lit from it and beyond
- Isaiah 18:4 Lit in
- Isaiah 18:4 Lit light
- Isaiah 18:5 Lit is finished
- Isaiah 18:7 Some ancient versions and DSS; MT implies Consisting of a people
- Isaiah 18:7 Lit drawn out
- Isaiah 18:7 Lit from it and beyond
Isaiah 18
International Standard Version
A Rebuke to Cush
18 Woe to the land of whirring wings
that is beyond the rivers of Cush,[a]
2 which sends envoys by the sea,[b]
in papyrus boats over the water!
Go, swift messengers,
to a tall, smooth-skinned nation,
to a people feared far and wide,
a nation that metes out[c] punishment[d] and oppresses,
whose land the rivers divide.
3 All you inhabitants of the world,
you who live on the earth,
when a banner is raised on the mountains,
you’ll see it.
When a trumpet sounds,
you’ll hear it!
4 For this is what the Lord told me:
“I will remain quiet and watch in my dwelling place
like dazzling heat in sunshine,
like a cloud of dew in the heat[e] of harvest.”
5 For before the harvest, when the season of[f] budding is over,
and sour grapes ripen into mature grapes,[g]
he cuts off the shoots with pruning knives,
clearing away the spreading branches
as he lops them off.
6 And[h] they will all be left
for birds of prey that live on the mountains[i]
and for wild animals.[j]
Birds of prey will pass the summer feeding on them,
and all the wild animals[k] will pass the winter feeding[l] on them.
7 At that time tribute will be brought to the Lord of the Heavenly Armies
from[m] a tall and smooth-skinned people,
from a people feared far and wide,
a nation that metes out[n] punishment[o] and oppresses,
whose land the rivers divide,
to Mount Zion,
the place that bears[p] the name of the Lord.[q]
Footnotes
- Isaiah 18:1 I.e. Nubia, south of Egypt (modern northern Sudan)
- Isaiah 18:2 Or Nile
- Isaiah 18:2 Or nation of strange speech; so 1QIsaa MT; LXX reads nation without hope
- Isaiah 18:2 1QIsaa MT LXX lack punishment
- Isaiah 18:4 So 1QIsaa MT; MTmss LXX read on the day
- Isaiah 18:5 1QIsaa MT lack season of
- Isaiah 18:5 Lit. flowers
- Isaiah 18:6 So 1QIsaa MT LXX; 4QIsab lacks And
- Isaiah 18:6 So 4QIsab; 1QIsaa MT read of mountains; LXX reads mountains of heaven
- Isaiah 18:6 Lit. for beasts of the earth; i.e. non-domesticated animals, as opposed to domesticated livestock;
- Isaiah 18:6 Lit. the beasts of the earth; so 1QIsaa; i.e. non-domesticated animals, as opposed to domesticated livestock; MT LXX read every beast of the field
- Isaiah 18:6 1QIsaa MT lack feeding
- Isaiah 18:7 So 1QIsaa LXX; 4QIsab MT lack from
- Isaiah 18:7 Or nation of strange speech; so 1QIsaa MT; LXX reads nation with hope
- Isaiah 18:7 1QIsaa MT LXX lack punishment
- Isaiah 18:7 Lit. place of
- Isaiah 18:7 So 1QIsaa; 4QIsab MT LXX read the Lord of the Heavenly Armies
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