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
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”
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