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 on the waters, saying, “Go, you swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth, to a people awesome from their beginning onward, a nation that measures 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 you inhabitants of the world, and you dwellers on the earth, when a banner is lifted up on the mountains, look! When the trumpet is blown, listen!

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 the LORD said to me, “I will be still, and I will see 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 cut down and take away 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 will be left together for the ravenous birds of the mountains, and for the animals of the earth. The ravenous birds will eat them in the summer, and all the animals of the earth will eat them in the winter.

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 will be brought to the LORD of Armies from a people tall and smooth, even from a people awesome from their beginning onward, a nation that measures out and treads down, whose land the rivers divide, to the place of the name of the LORD of Armies, Mount Zion.