Isa 18 | NASB1995 | STEP | Alas , oh land of whirring wings Which lies beyond the rivers of Cush ,

Isaiah 18

Message to Ethiopia

1 Alas, oh land of whirring wings
Which lies beyond the rivers of ^{▼▼ Or Ethiopia
,} ^bCush,
2 Which sends envoys by the sea,
Even in ^cpapyrus vessels on the surface of the waters.
Go, swift messengers, to a nation ^{▼▼ Lit drawn out
,} ^etall and smooth,
To a people ^ffeared ^{▼▼ Lit from it and beyond}far and wide,
A powerful and oppressive nation
Whose land the rivers divide.
3 ^hAll you inhabitants of the world and dwellers on earth,
As soon as a standard is raised on the mountains, ⁱyou will see it,
And as soon as the trumpet is blown, you will hear it.

4 For thus the Lord has told me, “I will look ^{▼▼ Lit in}from My ^kdwelling place quietly
Like dazzling heat in the ^{▼▼ Lit light
,} ^msunshine,
Like a cloud of ⁿdew in the heat of harvest.”
5 For ^obefore the harvest, as soon as the bud ^{▼▼ Lit is finished}blossoms
And the flower becomes a ripening grape,
Then He will cut off the sprigs with pruning knives
And remove and cut away the spreading branches.
6 They will be left together for mountain birds ^qof prey,
And for the beasts of the earth;
And the birds of prey will spend the summer feeding on them,
And all the beasts of the earth will spend harvest time on them.
7 At that time a gift of homage will be brought to the Lord of hosts
^{▼▼ So with some ancient versions and DSS; M.T. implies Consisting of a people}From a ^speople ^{▼▼ Lit drawn out}tall and smooth,
Even from a people feared ^{▼▼ Lit from it and beyond}far and wide,
A powerful and oppressive nation,
Whose land the rivers divide—
To the ^vplace of the name of the Lord of hosts, even Mount Zion.