Isaiah 18

Oracle of Judgment on Cush

1 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*Literally "stretched out" and smooth*Literally "peeled," "wiped clean," or "hairless" nation,

to a people feared near and far,*Literally "from this and beyond"

a mighty, mighty*Perhaps this is a gibberish phrase in Hebrew, qaw-qaw and trampling*Meaning uncertain nation,

whose land rivers divide.

3 All you inhabitants of the world

and dwellers of the earth,

when a signal is raised on the*Literally "as a raising of a signal" mountains, you must look,

and when a trumpet is blown,*Literally "as a blowing of a trumpet" 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,*The meaning of this phrase is uncertain; perhaps the "light" is sunlight

like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest."

5 For before the harvest, when the blossom is complete*Literally "as a completion of a blossom"

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*Literally "be left together" for birds*Hebrew "bird" of prey of the mountains

and for the animals*Hebrew "animal" of the earth.

And the birds*Hebrew "bird" of prey will pass the summer on it,

and every animal of the earth will winter on it.

7 At that time, a gift*Perhaps tribute is meant will be brought to Yahweh of hosts

from a tall*Literally "stretched out" and smooth*Literally "peeled," "wiped clean," or "hairless" 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.