Isaiah 18

18TH CHAPTER

Sudan Will Be Punished

¹How horrible it will be for the land of whirring wings 

which lies beyond the rivers of Sudan. 

²It 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. 

³Look 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. 

⁴This is what the Lord 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. 

⁵Before 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. 

⁶They 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. 

⁷At that time gifts will be brought to the Lord of Armies 

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 the Lord of Armies is.