Isaiah Chapter 18
An Oracle About Nubia
1 Ah, land of fluttering wings,
land beyond the headwaters of the Nile in Nubia,
2 that sends envoys by sea in papyrus boats—
go swiftly, ambassadors, to a nation tall and smooth,
a people feared far and wide,
a powerful, oppressive nation
crisscrossed by rivers.
3 All of you that live in the world,
look when I raise the signal on the mountains,
listen when I blow the ram’s horn,
4 because Yahveh has told me:
“I’ll watch quietly from my Temple,
as quietly as a cloud forming in the summer sunshine,
like dew condensing at harvest time.”
Is 18:1-4
5 Before harvest, as soon as the bud blossoms
and the flowers start turning into grapes,
he’ll snip off the new shoots with pruning shears
and lop off the spreading branches.
6 Your huge army will be left dead for the mountain buzzards
and wild animals on the ground.
The buzzards will spend the summer picking at the corpses;
the wild animals will spend the winter gnawing on them till harvest time.
7 At that time, a nation tall and smooth
will pay homage to Yahveh of Hosts—
a people feared far and wide,
a powerful, oppressive nation
crisscrossed by rivers.
They’ll bring their gifts to Mount Zion,
the place that wears the name Yahveh of Hosts.
Is 18:5-7