Isaiah 18
New King James Version
Proclamation Against Ethiopia
18 Woe (A)to the land shadowed with buzzing wings,
Which is beyond the rivers of [a]Ethiopia,
2 Which sends ambassadors by sea,
Even in vessels of reed on the waters, saying,
“Go, swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth of skin,
To a people terrible from their beginning onward,
A nation powerful and treading down,
Whose land the rivers divide.”
3 All inhabitants of the world and dwellers on the earth:
(B)When he lifts up a banner on the mountains, you see it;
And when he blows a trumpet, you hear it.
4 For so the Lord said to me,
“I will take My rest,
And I will [b]look from My dwelling place
Like clear heat in sunshine,
Like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”
5 For before the harvest, when the bud is perfect
And the sour grape is ripening in the flower,
He will both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks
And take away and cut down the branches.
6 They will be left together for the mountain birds of prey
And for the beasts of the earth;
The birds of prey will summer on them,
And all the beasts of the earth will winter on them.
7 In that time (C)a present will be brought to the Lord of hosts
[c]From a people tall and smooth of skin,
And from a people terrible from their beginning onward,
A nation powerful and treading down,
Whose land the rivers divide—
To the place of the name of the Lord of hosts,
To Mount Zion.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 18:1 Heb. Cush
- Isaiah 18:4 watch
- Isaiah 18:7 So with DSS, LXX, Vg.; MT omits From; Tg. To
Isaiah 18
Easy-to-Read Version
God’s Message to Ethiopia
18 Look at the land along the rivers of Ethiopia where you can hear the buzzing of insect wings. 2 That land sends people down the Nile River in reed boats.[a]
Fast messengers, go to the people
who are tall and smooth,
who are feared far and wide.
Go to that powerful nation that defeats other countries
and whose land is divided by rivers.
Go warn them!
3 Like a flag on a hill,
everyone on earth will see what happens.
Like a trumpet call,
everyone in the country will hear it.
4 The Lord said, “I will be in the place prepared for me.[b] I will quietly watch these things happen: On a beautiful summer day, at noon, people will be resting. (It will be during the hot harvest time when there is no rain, but only early morning dew.) 5 Then something terrible will happen. Earlier in the year, the flowers bloomed and the new grapes formed buds and began to grow. But before the crop is harvested, the enemy will come and cut the plants. They will break the vines and throw them away. 6 The vines will be left for the birds from the mountains and the wild animals to eat. The birds will feed on them throughout the summer, and that winter the wild animals will eat the vines.”
7 At that time a special offering will be brought to the Lord All-Powerful from the people who are tall and smooth, from those who are feared far and wide, from that powerful nation that defeats other countries and whose land is divided by rivers.[c] This offering will be brought to the Lord’s place on Mount Zion.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 18:2 reed boats These boats were made by tying many reeds (a type of water plant) together.
- Isaiah 18:4 the place prepared for me Probably the Temple in Jerusalem.
- Isaiah 18:7 Or “At that time the people who are tall and smooth, who are feared far and wide, that powerful nation who defeats other countries and whose land is divided by rivers, those people will be brought to the Lord All-Powerful as a special gift.”
Ang Bagong Tipan: Filipino Standard Version, Copyright © Philippine Bible Society 2009.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International