Isaiah 18 (NASB2020)

Message to Ethiopia

1Woe, land of whirring wings

Which lies beyond the rivers of 18:1 Or EthiopiaCush,

2Which sends messengers by the sea,

Even in papyrus vessels on the surface of the waters.

Go, swift messengers, to a nation 18:2 Lit drawn outtall and smooth,

To a people feared 18:2 Lit from it and beyondfar 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 18:4 Lit infrom My dwelling place

Like dazzling heat in the 18:4 Lit lightsunshine,

Like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”

5For before the harvest, as soon as the bud 18:5 Lit is finishedblossoms

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

18:7 Some ancient versions and DSS; MT implies Consisting of a peopleFrom a people 18:7 Lit drawn outtall and smooth,

From a people feared 18:7 Lit from it and beyondfar 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.

Understand Isaiah 18

A verse-by-verse study of Isaiah 18: what the chapter is doing, and what three commentaries say about it. Written to be readable if this is new to you.

Read the Isaiah 18 commentary