Isaiah 18

The Lord Will Judge a Distant Land in the South

18:1 The land of buzzing wings is as good as dead,1

the one beyond the rivers of Cush,

18:2 that sends messengers by sea,

who glide over the water’s surface in boats made of papyrus.

Go, you swift messengers,

to a nation of tall, smooth-skinned people,2

to a people that are feared far and wide,3

to a nation strong and victorious,4

whose land rivers divide.5

18:3 All you who live in the world,

who reside on the earth,

you will see a signal flag raised on the mountains;

you will hear a trumpet being blown.

18:4 For this is what the Lord has told me:

“I will wait6 and watch from my place,

like scorching heat produced by the sunlight,7

like a cloud of mist8 in the heat9 of harvest.”10

18:5 For before the harvest, when the bud has sprouted,

and the ripening fruit appears,11

he will cut off the unproductive shoots12 with pruning knives;

he will prune the tendrils.13

18:6 They will all be left14 for the birds of the hills

and the wild animals;15

the birds will eat them during the summer,

and all the wild animals will eat them during the winter.

18:7 At that time

tribute will be brought to the Lord who commands armies,

by a people that are tall and smooth-skinned,

a people that are feared far and wide,

a nation strong and victorious,

whose land rivers divide.16

The tribute17 will be brought to the place where the Lord who commands armies has chosen to reside, on Mount Zion.18

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