Logo - Feel The Words
JPS

Isaiah Chapter 18 (JPS)

minutes - words.
Isaiah Chapter 18 (JPS)
Tap a verse to highlight it

1 Ah, land of the buzzing of wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia;

2 That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of papyrus upon the waters! Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation tall and of glossy skin, to a people terrible from their beginning onward; a nation that is sturdy and treadeth down, whose land the rivers divide!

3 All ye inhabitants of the world, and ye dwellers on the earth, when an ensign is lifted up on the mountains, see ye; and when the horn is blown, hear ye.

4 For thus hath HaShem said unto me: I will hold Me still, and I will look on in My dwelling-place, like clear heat in sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.

5 For before the harvest, when the blossom is over, and the bud becometh a ripening grape, He will cut off the sprigs with pruning-hooks, and the shoots will He take away and lop off.

6 They shall be left together unto the ravenous birds of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth; and the ravenous birds shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them.

7 In that time shall a present be brought unto HaShem of hosts of a people tall and of glossy skin, and from a people terrible from their beginning onward; a nation that is sturdy and treadeth down, whose land the rivers divide, to the place of the name of HaShem of hosts, the mount Zion.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's Isaiah chapter 18 about?
It's a brief oracle concerning "the land shadowing with wings" beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, which sends swift messengers by sea (v1-2), ending with that same distant nation eventually bringing tribute to the LORD at Mount Zion (v7).
What does the signal in verse 3, an ensign lifted up and a trumpet blown, call people to do?
It calls all the world's inhabitants to watch for God's signal - a summons that shares the same distant-Ethiopia geography as the worshippers described in Zephaniah 3:10.
What are the 'vessels of bulrushes' mentioned in verse 2?
They're lightweight boats made of papyrus reeds, used by the swift messengers sent across the sea in this chapter.

Today's Verse

Yonder is the sea, great and wide, Wherein are things creeping innumerable, Both small and great beasts.

Psalms 104:25 | ASV

Verse Of The Day