Isaiah 18

Message to Ethiopia

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Alas, oh land of whirring wings
Which lies beyond the rivers of ^(a)^(A)Cush,

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Which sends envoys by the sea,
Even in ^(B)papyrus vessels on the surface of the waters.
Go, swift messengers, to a nation ^(b)^(C)tall and smooth,
To a people ^(D)feared ^(c)far and wide,
A powerful and oppressive nation
Whose land the rivers divide.

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^(E)All you inhabitants of the world and dwellers on earth,
As soon as a standard is raised on the mountains, ^(F)you will see it,
And as soon as the trumpet is blown, you will hear it.

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4} For thus the Lord has told me,

“I will look ^(d)from My ^(G)dwelling place quietly
Like dazzling heat in the ^(e)^(H)sunshine,
Like a cloud of ^(I)dew in the heat of harvest.”

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For ^(J)before the harvest, as soon as the bud ^(f)blossoms
And the flower becomes a ripening grape,
Then He will cut off the sprigs with pruning knives
And remove and cut away the spreading branches.

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They will be left together for mountain birds ^(K)of prey,
And for the beasts of the earth;
And the birds of prey will spend the summer feeding on them,
And all the beasts of the earth will spend harvest time on them.

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At that time a gift of homage will be brought to the Lord of hosts
^(g)From a ^(L)people ^(h)tall and smooth,
Even from a people feared ⁽ⁱ⁾far and wide,
A powerful and oppressive nation,
Whose land the rivers divide—
To the ^(M)place of the name of the Lord of hosts, even Mount Zion.

Footnotes:

a. Isaiah 18:1: ['Or ', Ethiopia]

b. Isaiah 18:2: ['Lit ', drawn out]

c. Isaiah 18:2: ['Lit ', from it and beyond]

d. Isaiah 18:4: ['Lit ', in]

e. Isaiah 18:4: ['Lit ', light]

f. Isaiah 18:5: ['Lit ', is finished]

g. Isaiah 18:7: ['So with some ancient versions and DSS; M.T. implies ', Consisting of a people]

h. Isaiah 18:7: ['Lit ', drawn out]

i. Isaiah 18:7: ['Lit ', from it and beyond]

Cross references:

A. Isaiah 18:1: Isaiah 20:3-5; Ezekiel 30:4; Ezekiel 30:5; Ezekiel 30:9; Zephaniah 2:12; Zephaniah 3:10

B. Isaiah 18:2: Exodus 2:3

C. Isaiah 18:2: Isaiah 18:7

D. Isaiah 18:2: Genesis 10:8; Genesis 10:9; Genesis 14:9; Genesis 16:8

E. Isaiah 18:3: Psalm 49:1; Micah 1:2

F. Isaiah 18:3: Isaiah 26:11

G. Isaiah 18:4: Isaiah 26:21; Hosea 5:15

H. Isaiah 18:4: 2 Samuel 23:4

I. Isaiah 18:4: Proverbs 19:12; Isaiah 26:19; Hosea 14:5

J. Isaiah 18:5: Isaiah 17:10; Isaiah 17:11; Ezekiel 17:6-10

K. Isaiah 18:6: Isaiah 46:11; Isaiah 56:9; Jeremiah 7:33; Ezekiel 32:4-6; Ezekiel 39:17-20

L. Isaiah 18:7: Psalm 68:31; Isaiah 45:14; Zephaniah 3:10; Acts 8:27-38

M. Isaiah 18:7: Zechariah 14:16; Zechariah 14:17