Isaiah 18
Names of God Bible
Sudan Will Be Punished
18 How horrible it will be for the land of whirring wings
which lies beyond the rivers of Sudan.
2 It sends messengers by sea
in boats made of reeds
skimming over the surface of the water.
Go, swift messengers, to a tall and smooth-skinned people,
a people who are feared far and near,
a strong and aggressive nation,
whose land is divided by rivers.
3 Look when someone raises a flag on the mountains.
Listen when someone blows a ram’s horn,
all you inhabitants of the world who live on the earth.
4 This is what Yahweh says to me:
I will keep quiet and watch from my dwelling place.
My presence will be like scorching heat in the sunshine,
like heavy dew in the heat of the harvest.
5 Before the harvest, when blossoms are gone
and grapes are ripening from blossoms,
he will cut off the shoots with pruning shears
and chop off the spreading branches.
6 They will be left for the birds of prey on the mountains
and the wild animals.
The birds of prey will feed on them in the summer,
and all the wild animals on earth
will feed on them in the winter.
7 At that time gifts will be brought to Yahweh Tsebaoth
from a tall and smooth-skinned people,
a people who are feared far and near,
a strong and aggressive nation,
whose land is divided by rivers.
They will be brought to Mount Zion,
the place where the name of Yahweh Tsebaoth is.
Isaiah 18
EasyEnglish Bible
A message about Cush[a]
18 It will be very bad for that land beyond the rivers of Cush. Their ships seem to have wings and fly everywhere! 2 They send messages over the sea in boats that they make from reeds. Their boats sail quickly on the water.
Go now! Take a message quickly.
Go to a country where the people are tall
and their skin has no hair.
Everyone is afraid of that nation's people.
They are a powerful and strong nation.
Many rivers cross their land.
3 All you people who live in the world, listen to this! You will see a battle flag on the mountains. You will hear the sound of a trumpet.
4 This is what the Lord said to me: ‘I will watch quietly from my place. I will work quietly, like the heat that comes from the sun. I will be as quiet as the mist that comes at harvest time.’[b]
5 Then, when the grapes on the vines are nearly ready for harvest, the Lord will cut them off! He will use his knife to cut off the branches.[c]
6 Like those branches, the dead bodies of the soldiers will lie in the fields. The wild animals and the vultures will come to eat them. The vultures will feed on them all through the summer. The wild animals will eat them all through the winter.
7 At that time, the Lord Almighty will receive gifts from the people of that land. Many rivers cross that land. Its people are tall and their skin has no hair. Everyone is afraid of them. Their nation is strong and powerful. Those people will bring their gifts to Mount Zion. That is the place that the Lord Almighty has chosen for people to worship him there.
Footnotes
- 18:1 There were two places called Cush 2,700 years ago. One place was near Ethiopia and the other place was near Iraq. Most Bible students think that here it means the place near Ethiopia.
- 18:4 Mist is like a cloud near the ground that comes early in the morning.
- 18:5 This is a picture of how the Lord will stop the foreign army before they can attack.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.
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