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Concerning Cush

18 Doom to the land of winged ships,
        beyond the rivers of Cush
    that sends messengers by sea,
        reed vessels on the water.
Go, swift messengers,
    to a nation tall and clean-shaven,
    to a people feared near and far,
    a nation barbaric and oppressive,
    whose land the rivers divide.

All you who inhabit the world,
        who live on earth,
    when a signal is raised on the mountains, you will see!
        When the trumpet blasts, you will hear!
The Lord said to me:
    I will quietly watch from my own place,
    like the shimmering heat of sunshine,
    like a cloud’s shade in the harvest heat.
Before the harvest, when the bloom is finished, when the blossom is becoming
a ripening fruit,
    God will cut the shoots with a pruning knife,
    and lop off the spreading branches.
    They will all be left to the mountain birds
        and to the beasts of the land.
    The birds will eat them in summer,
    all the beasts of the land in winter.

At that time, gifts will be brought to the Lord of heavenly forces
    from a tall and clean-shaven people
    and from a people feared near and far,
    a nation barbaric and oppressive,
    whose land the rivers divide,
        to the place of the name of the Lord of heavenly forces,
        to Mount Zion.

A Prophecy Against Cush

18 Woe(A) to the land of whirring wings[a]
    along the rivers of Cush,[b](B)
which sends envoys(C) by sea
    in papyrus(D) boats over the water.

Go, swift messengers,
to a people tall and smooth-skinned,(E)
    to a people feared far and wide,
an aggressive(F) nation of strange speech,
    whose land is divided by rivers.(G)

All you people of the world,(H)
    you who live on the earth,
when a banner(I) is raised on the mountains,
    you will see it,
and when a trumpet(J) sounds,
    you will hear it.
This is what the Lord says to me:
    “I will remain quiet(K) and will look on from my dwelling place,(L)
like shimmering heat in the sunshine,(M)
    like a cloud of dew(N) in the heat of harvest.”
For, before the harvest, when the blossom is gone
    and the flower becomes a ripening grape,
he will cut off(O) the shoots with pruning knives,
    and cut down and take away the spreading branches.(P)
They will all be left to the mountain birds of prey(Q)
    and to the wild animals;(R)
the birds will feed on them all summer,
    the wild animals all winter.

At that time gifts(S) will be brought to the Lord Almighty

from a people tall and smooth-skinned,(T)
    from a people feared(U) far and wide,
an aggressive nation of strange speech,
    whose land is divided by rivers(V)

the gifts will be brought to Mount Zion, the place of the Name of the Lord Almighty.(W)

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 18:1 Or of locusts
  2. Isaiah 18:1 That is, the upper Nile region