< Isaiah 18 >
1 Wo to the lond, the cymbal of wyngis, which is biyende the flood of Ethiopie; that sendith messangeris bi the see,
Woe to the land of whirring wings, along the rivers of Cush,
2 and in vessels of papirus on watris. Go, ye messangeris, to the folk drawun up and to-rent; to a ferdful puple, aftir which is noon other; to the folk abidynge and defoulid, whos lond the flodis han rauyschid; to the hil of the name of the Lord of oostis, to the hil of Sion.
which sends couriers by sea, in papyrus vessels on the waters. Go, swift messengers, to a people tall and smooth-skinned, to a people widely feared, to a powerful nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers.
3 Alle ye dwelleris of the world, that dwellen in the lond, schulen se whanne a signe schal be reisid in the hillis, and ye schulen here the cry of a trumpe.
All you people of the world and dwellers of the earth, when a banner is raised on the mountains, you will see it; when a ram’s horn sounds, you will hear it.
4 For whi the Lord seith these thingis to me, Y schal reste, and Y schal biholde in my place, as the myddai liyt is cleer, and as a cloude of dew in the dai of heruest.
For this is what the LORD has told me: “I will quietly look on from My dwelling place, like shimmering heat in the sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”
5 For whi al flouride out bifore heruest, aud vnripe perfeccioun buriownede; and the litle braunchis therof schulen be kit doun with sithis, and tho that ben left, schulen be kit awei. Thei schulen be schakun out,
For before the harvest, when the blossom is gone and the flower becomes a ripening grape, He will cut off the shoots with a pruning knife and remove and discard the branches.
6 and schulen be left togidere to the briddis of hillis, and to the beestis of erthe; and briddis schulen be on hym by a somer euerlastinge, and alle the beestis of erthe schulen dwelle bi wyntir on hym.
They will all be left to the mountain birds of prey, and to the beasts of the land. The birds will feed on them in summer, and all the wild animals in winter.
7 In that tyme a yifte schal be brouyt to the Lord of oostis, of the puple drawun up and to-rent; of the puple ferdful, aftir which was noon other; of the folk abidynge and defoulid, whos lond floodis rauyschiden; the yifte schal be brouyt to the place of the name of the Lord of oostis, to the hil of Sion.
At that time gifts will be brought to the LORD of Hosts— from a people tall and smooth-skinned, from a people widely feared, from a powerful nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers— to Mount Zion, the place of the Name of the LORD of Hosts.