Isaiah 18

A Prophecy Against Cush

Woe^a to the land of whirring wings

along the rivers of Cush,^b

which sends envoys^c by sea

in papyrus^d boats over the water.

Go, swift messengers,

to a people tall and smooth-skinned,^e

to a people feared far and wide,

an aggressive^f nation of strange speech,

whose land is divided by rivers.^g

All you people of the world,^h

you who live on the earth,

when a bannerⁱ is raised on the mountains,

you will see it,

and when a trumpet^j sounds,

you will hear it.

This is what the Lord says to me:

“I will remain quiet^k and will look on from my dwelling place,^l

like shimmering heat in the sunshine,^m

like a cloud of dewⁿ in the heat of harvest.”

For, before the harvest, when the blossom is gone

and the flower becomes a ripening grape,

he will cut off^o the shoots with pruning knives,

and cut down and take away the spreading branches.^p

They will all be left to the mountain birds of prey^q

and to the wild animals;^r

the birds will feed on them all summer,

the wild animals all winter.

At that time gifts^s will be brought to the Lord Almighty

from a people tall and smooth-skinned,^t

from a people feared^u far and wide,

an aggressive nation of strange speech,

whose land is divided by rivers^v—

the gifts will be brought to Mount Zion, the place of the Name of the Lord Almighty.^w