Isaiah 18:1–7
1 Alas, oh land of whirring wings
Which lies beyond the rivers of 1aCush,
2 Which sends envoys by the sea,
Even in apapyrus vessels on the surface of the waters.
Go, swift messengers, to a nation 1btall and smooth,
To a people cfeared 2far and wide,
A powerful and oppressive nation
Whose land the rivers divide.
3 aAll you inhabitants of the world and dwellers on earth,
As soon as a standard is raised on the mountains, byou 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 1from My adwelling place quietly
Like dazzling heat in the 2bsunshine,
Like a cloud of cdew in the heat of harvest.”
5 For abefore the harvest, as soon as the bud 1blossoms
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 aof 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
1From a apeople 2tall and smooth,
Even from a people feared 3far and wide,
A powerful and oppressive nation,
Whose land the rivers divide—
To the bplace of the name of the Lord of hosts, even Mount Zion.