Isaiah 18

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

Behold, land shadowed [with] wings, That [is] beyond the rivers of Cush,

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 is sending ambassadors by sea, Even with implements of reed on the face of the waters—Go, swift messengers, To a nation drawn out and peeled, To a people fearful from its beginning and onward, A nation meeting out by line, and treading down, Whose land floods have spoiled.

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 you inhabitants of the world, And you dwellers of earth, At the lifting up of an ensign on hills you look, And at the blowing of a horn you hear.

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 said YHWH to me: “I rest, and I look on My settled place, As a clear heat on an herb. As a thick 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 harvest, when the flower is perfect, And the blossom is producing unripe fruit, Then [One] has cut the sprigs with pruning hooks, And the branches He has turned aside, cut down.

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 are left together to the ravenous bird of the mountains, And to the beast of the earth, And the ravenous bird has summered on them, And every beast of the earth winters on 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.

At that time a present is brought to YHWH of Hosts, A nation drawn out and peeled. Even of a people fearful from the beginning until now, A nation meting out by line, and treading down, Whose land floods have spoiled, To the place of the Name of YHWH of Hosts—Mount Zion!”