Message to Ethiopia

1Alas, oh land of whirring wings
         Which lies beyond the rivers of Cush,

2Which sends envoys 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 inhabitants of the world and dwellers on earth,
         As soon as a standard is raised on the mountains, you will see it,
         And as soon as the trumpet is blown, you will hear it.

4For thus the LORD has told me,
         “I will look from My dwelling place quietly
         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,
         Then He will cut off the sprigs with pruning knives
         And remove and cut away the spreading branches.

6They will be left together for mountain birds of prey,
         And for the beasts of the earth;
         And the birds of prey will spend the summer feeding on them,
         And all the beasts of the earth will spend harvest time on them.

7At that time a gift of homage will be brought to the LORD of hosts
         From a people tall and smooth,
         Even 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 hosts, even Mount Zion.

NASB ©1995

American Standard Version
Ah, the land of the rustling of wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia;

Douay-Rheims Bible
WOE to the land, the winged cymbal, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia,

Darby Bible Translation
Ha! land shadowing with wings, which art beyond the rivers of Cush,

English Revised Version
Ah, the land of the rustling of wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia:

Webster's Bible Translation
Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Cush:

World English Bible
Ah, the land of the rustling of wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia;

Young's Literal Translation
Ho, land shadowed with wings, That is beyond the rivers of Cush,The Christians' Call to the Gypies. --Isa. xviii. 7
The Christians' Call to the Gypies.--Isa. xviii. 7. Christians. Gypsies. Christians. Gypsies. Christians and Gypsies. Strangers, whence came ye to the West; Are ye the offspring of the sun, That from his rising to his rest, Through every clime he shines on, run? So bright of eye, so dark of hue, Surely your sire hath look'd on you. Of higher lineage than the sun, (But where our birthplace none can show,) His track in heaven, on earth we run, From where the waves of Ganges flow, Or Nile's mysterious …
James Montgomery—Sacred Poems and Hymns

Isaiah
CHAPTERS I-XXXIX Isaiah is the most regal of the prophets. His words and thoughts are those of a man whose eyes had seen the King, vi. 5. The times in which he lived were big with political problems, which he met as a statesman who saw the large meaning of events, and as a prophet who read a divine purpose in history. Unlike his younger contemporary Micah, he was, in all probability, an aristocrat; and during his long ministry (740-701 B.C., possibly, but not probably later) he bore testimony, as …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

Isaiah 18:1 NIV • Isaiah 18:1 NLT • Isaiah 18:1 ESV • Isaiah 18:1 NASB • Isaiah 18:1 KJV • Isaiah 18:1 Bible Apps • Isaiah 18:1 Parallel • Bible Hub