Isaiah 18

1. Woe to the land of whirring wings 1 beyond the rivers of Ethiopia;

2. they send ambassadors by sea, 2 across the water in papyrus-reed boats! 2 Go, swift messengers, to a nation tall and bronzed, 2 to a people feared far and near, 2 to a strong and conquering nation 2 whose land is divided by rivers!

3. All you inhabitants of the world, 3 you who live on the earth: 3 when a banner is hoisted on the mountains, look! 3 When the shofar is blown, listen!

4. For Adonai has said this to me: 4 “I will look on from my place and do nothing, 4 like heat shimmering in the sun, 4 like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”

5. For before the harvest, when the flowering is over, 5 and the bud becomes a ripening grape, 5 he will cut off the branches with pruning-knives, 5 lop off the twigs and take them away.

6. They will all be left to the vultures in the mountains 6 and to the wild animals in the fields; 6 the vultures will feed on them in summer, 6 and the wild animals of the fields in winter.

7. At that time tribute will be brought 7 to Adonai-Tzva’ot 7 from a nation tall and bronzed, 7 from a people feared far and near, 7 from a strong and conquering nation 7 whose land is divided by rivers, 7 to the place where the name of Adonai-Tzva’ot 7 lives, Mount Tziyon.