Isaiah 18

1 Ho! thou land of the buzzing of wings, —Which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia:

Ah, the land of the rustling of wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia,

2 That sendeth by the sea, ambassadors Even in vessels of paper-reed, upon the face of the waters, —Go ye swift messengers Unto a nation drawn out and polished, Unto a people terrible from their beginning and onwards, —A nation most mighty and subduing, Whose land rivers have cut through.

that sends ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of papyrus upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth, to a people fearful from their beginning onward, a nation that metes out and treads down, whose land the rivers divide!

3 All ye inhabitants of the world And ye, that dwell in the earth, —When there is lifted up an ensign on the mountains, Ye shall look, And when there is blown a horn, Ye shall hearken.

All ye inhabitants of the world, and ye dwellers on the earth, when an ensign is lifted up on the mountains, see ye, and when the trumpet is blown, hear ye.

4 For, thus, said Yahweh unto me, —I must be quiet I must look on in my fixed place of abode, —Like a bright heat on the light, Like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.

For thus Jehovah has said to me, I will be still, and I will behold in my dwelling-place, like clear heat in sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.

5 For before harvest, when the bud is perfect, And, the blossom, becometh a ripening grape, Then will one cut down the twigs with pruning-hooks, And the tendrils, will he remove [and] cast down:

For before the harvest, when the blossom is over, and the flower becomes a ripening grape, he will cut off the sprigs with pruning-hooks, and he will take away and cut down the spreading branches.

6 They shall be left together. To the ravenous birds, of the mountains, And to the beast of the earth, —Then shall the ravenous bird, summer upon them, And, every beast of the earth, upon them, shall winter.

They shall be left together to the ravenous birds of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth. And the ravenous birds shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them.

7 In that time, shall there be borne along. As a present unto Yahweh of hosts A people drawn out and polished, Even from a people terrible from their beginning and onwards, —nation most mighty and subduing Whose land rivers, have cut through, Unto the place of the Name of Yahweh of hosts. Mount Zion.

In that time a present shall be brought to Jehovah of hosts from a people tall and smooth, even from a people fearful from their beginning onward, a nation that metes out and treads down, whose land the rivers divide, to the place of the name of Jehovah of hosts, the mount Zion.