<< Isaiah 18 >> New American Standard Bible © Message to Ethiopia 1 Alas, oh land of whirring wings  Which lies beyond the rivers of Cush, 2 Which 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. 3 All 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. 4 For 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.” 5 For 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. 6 They 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. 7 At 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. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. Online Parallel Bible