Isaiah 18

A Message to Cush

1 Doom to the land of whirring wings, the one beyond the rivers of Cush,

2 That sends messengers on the river in boats made of papyrus, saying,“Go, swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth, feared far and wide, strong and powerful, whose land is divided by rivers.”

3 All you people of the world, everyone who lives on earth, when a banner is raised on the mountains, look! When a trumpet sounds, listen up!

God’s Timing and Harvest

4 This is what the Lord says:“I will stay quiet and watch from My dwelling place, like heat shimmering in the sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”

5 Before the harvest comes, before the flowers bloom and the grapes ripen, He will cut off the shoots with pruning knives and clear away the spreading branches.

6 They will all be left to the birds of prey and wild animals. The birds will feast all summer, and the wild beasts all winter.

7 At that time, gifts will be brought to the Lord of Armies from that powerful nation, tall, smooth, and feared far and wide, to Mount Zion, the place where the Lord of Armies lives.