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Isaiah chapter 18

English Standard Version

1Ah, land of whirring wings that is beyond the rivers of Cush, 2which sends ambassadors by the sea, in vessels of papyrus on the waters! Go, you swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth, to a people feared near and far, a nation mighty and conquering, whose land the rivers divide. 3All you inhabitants of the world, you who dwell on the earth, when a signal is raised on the mountains, look! When a trumpet is blown, hear! 4For thus the Lord said to me: "I will quietly look from my dwelling like clear heat in sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest." 5 For before the harvest, when the blossom is over, and the flower becomes a ripening grape, he cuts off the shoots with pruning hooks, and the spreading branches he lops off and clears away. 6 They shall all of them be left to the birds of prey of the mountains and to the beasts of the earth. And the birds of prey will summer on them, and all the beasts of the earth will winter on them. 7At that time tribute will be brought to the Lord of hosts from a people tall and smooth, from a people feared near and far, a nation mighty and conquering, whose land the rivers divide, to Mount Zion, the place of the name of the Lord of hosts.
New International Version

1Woe to the land of whirring wings along the rivers of Cush,
2which sends envoys by sea in papyrus boats over the water. Go, swift messengers, to a people tall and smooth-skinned, to a people feared far and wide, an aggressive nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers. 3All you people of the world, you who live on the earth, when a banner is raised on the mountains, you will see it, and when a trumpet sounds, you will hear it. 4This is what the Lord says to me: "I will remain quiet and will look on from my dwelling place, like shimmering heat in the sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest." 5For, before the harvest, when the blossom is gone and the flower becomes a ripening grape, he will cut off the shoots with pruning knives, and cut down and take away the spreading branches. 6They will all be left to the mountain birds of prey and to the wild animals; the birds will feed on them all summer, the wild animals all winter.
7At that time gifts will be brought to the Lord Almighty from a people tall and smooth-skinned, from a people feared far and wide, an aggressive nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers— the gifts will be brought to Mount Zion, the place of the Name of the Lord Almighty.
New American Standard Bible

1Woe, land of whirring wings Which lies beyond the rivers of Cush, 2Which sends messengers by the sea, Even in papyrus vessels on the surface of the waters. Go, swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth, To a people feared far and wide, A powerful and oppressive nation Whose land the rivers divide. 3All you who inhabit the world, and live on earth, As soon as a flag is raised on the mountains, you will see it, And as soon as the trumpet is blown, you will hear it. 4For this is what the Lord has told me: 'I will quietly look from My dwelling place Like dazzling heat in the sunshine, Like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.' 5For before the harvest, as soon as the bud blossoms And the flower becomes a ripening grape, He will cut off the shoots with pruning knives, And remove and tear away the spreading branches. 6They will be left together for mountain birds of prey, And for the animals of the earth; And the birds of prey will spend the summer feeding on them, And all the animals of the earth will spend harvest time on them. 7At that time a gift of tribute will be brought to the Lord of armies From a people tall and smooth, From a people feared far and wide, A powerful and oppressive nation, Whose land the rivers divide— To the place of the name of the Lord of armies, to Mount Zion.
Christian Standard Bible

1Woe to the land of buzzing insect wings beyond the rivers of Cush, 2which sends envoys by sea, in reed vessels over the water. Go, swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth-skinned, to a people feared far and near, a powerful nation with a strange language, whose land is divided by rivers. 3All you inhabitants of the world and you who live on the earth, when a banner is raised on the mountains, look! When a trumpet sounds, listen!
4For the Lord said to me: I will quietly look out from my place, like shimmering heat in sunshine, like a rain cloud in harvest heat. 5For before the harvest, when the blossoming is over and the blossom becomes a ripening grape, he will cut off the shoots with a pruning knife, and tear away and remove the branches. 6They will all be left for the birds of prey on the hills and for the wild animals of the land. The birds of prey will spend the summer feeding on them, and all the wild animals the winter.
7At that time a gift will be brought to the Lord of Armies from a people tall and smooth-skinned, a people feared far and near, a powerful nation with a strange language, whose land is divided by rivers—to Mount Zion, the place of the name of the Lord of Armies.
New Living Translation

1Listen, Ethiopia — land of fluttering sails that lies at the headwaters of the Nile,
2that sends ambassadors in swift boats down the river. Go, swift messengers! Take a message to a tall, smooth-skinned people, who are feared far and wide for their conquests and destruction, and whose land is divided by rivers.
3All you people of the world, everyone who lives on the earth — when I raise my battle flag on the mountain, look! When I blow the ram’s horn, listen! 4For the Lord has told me this: 'I will watch quietly from my dwelling place — as quietly as the heat rises on a summer day, or as the morning dew forms during the harvest.' 5Even before you begin your attack, while your plans are ripening like grapes, the Lord will cut off your new growth with pruning shears. He will snip off and discard your spreading branches. 6Your mighty army will be left dead in the fields for the mountain vultures and wild animals. The vultures will tear at the corpses all summer. The wild animals will gnaw at the bones all winter.
7At that time the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will receive gifts from this land divided by rivers, from this tall, smooth-skinned people, who are feared far and wide for their conquests and destruction. They will bring the gifts to Jerusalem, where the Lord of Heaven’s Armies dwells.
King James Version

1Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia:
2That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!
3All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye.
4For so the Lord said unto me, I will take my rest, and I will consider in my dwelling place like a clear heat upon herbs, and like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.
5For afore the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, he shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks, and take away and cut down the branches.
6They shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them.
7In that time shall the present be brought unto the Lord of hosts of a people scattered and peeled, and from a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the place of the name of the Lord of hosts, the mount Zion.
New King James Version

1Woe to the land shadowed with buzzing wings, Which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, 2Which sends ambassadors by sea, Even in vessels of reed on the waters, saying, “Go, swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth of skin, To a people terrible from their beginning onward, A nation powerful and treading down, Whose land the rivers divide.” 3All inhabitants of the world and dwellers on the earth: When he lifts up a banner on the mountains, you see it; And when he blows a trumpet, you hear it. 4For so the Lord said to me, “I will take My rest, And I will look from My dwelling place Like clear heat in sunshine, Like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.” 5For before the harvest, when the bud is perfect And the sour grape is ripening in the flower, He will both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks And take away and cut down the branches. 6They will be left together for the mountain birds of prey And for the beasts of the earth; The birds of prey will summer on them, And all the beasts of the earth will winter on them. 7In that time a present will be brought to the Lord of hosts From a people tall and smooth of skin, And from a people terrible from their beginning onward, A nation powerful and treading down, Whose land the rivers divide— To the place of the name of the Lord of hosts, To Mount Zion.

What does Isaiah chapter 18 mean?

Unlike prior chapters, this passage is not a prophecy against a nation. Instead, Isaiah pauses to reassure the entire world that the Lord is paying attention. He will take action to end the threat of the Assyrian Empire. This intervention will occur when the time is exactly right.

He begins by calling out to the people of a distant land. Isaiah calls it a land of "whirring wings beyond the rivers of Cush." This may be a reference to the ancient land of Ethiopia along the Nile River south of Egypt. This is not the same "Ethiopia" as the present-day nation. During this era, the kings of Ethiopia were attempting to unite all of Egypt. They hoped to stand united against the threat of the Assyrian war machine (Isaiah 18:1).

Isaiah calls someone to send ambassadors and messengers to a nation of "tall and smooth" people. He describes this people as one feared by those nearby and even those far away. This is also a land divided by rivers. Because of ethnic differences, the men of Israel, Assyria, and other nearby nations tended to be shorter and hairier than would have been the natives of Egypt or Ethiopia. Isaiah appears to be calling for messengers to be sent to those people (Isaiah 18:2).

Then the prophet himself calls out to all the people of the world. He tells them to look for the signal from the Lord and to listen for the trumpet blast. He assures them that God is paying attention to the Assyrian threat. When the time is right, He will intervene. For now, the Lord is waiting. Isaiah compares the Lord's pause to the heat gathering on a sunny day. Or to clouds spreading dew during harvest (Isaiah 18:3–4).

That God waits does not mean He is ignorant. In fact, Isaiah further describes the Lord as a grape farmer paying especially close attention to the branches. He is waiting for the blossoms to become grapes on some branches and not on others. When it becomes clear which is which, He will prune away the unproductive branches. In Isaiah's word picture, those pruned branches become dead Assyrian bodies. They are piled so deep that the wild birds and beasts will feast through summer and winter. It's a grisly scene, but the point is that God is fully able to end Assyria at precisely the moment He chooses to do so (Isaiah 18:5–6).

Finally, Isaiah points forward to the time of the Messiah's kingdom on earth. When that day arrives, He will reign over the entire world from His throne in Jerusalem on Mount Zion. The people of every nation will flow to Jerusalem to see Him and to bring Him tribute. They will come to learn His ways because Mount Zion is the place of the name of the Lord of hosts (Isaiah 18:7).
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