Isaiah 18

1 Downstream from Ethiopia lies the country of Egypt, swarming with insects.

2 Egypt sends messengers up the Nile River on ships made of reeds. Send them fast to Ethiopia, whose people are tall and have smooth skin. Their land is divided by rivers; they are strong and brutal, feared all over the world.

3 Everyone on this earth, listen with care! A signal will be given on the mountains, and you will hear a trumpet.

4 The Lord said to me, “I will calmly look down from my home above— as calmly as the sun at noon or clouds in the heat of harvest season.”

5 Before the blossoms can turn into grapes, God will cut off the sprouts and hack off the branches.

6 Ethiopians will be food for mountain vultures during the summer and for wild animals during the winter.

7 Those Ethiopians are tall and their skin is smooth. They are feared all over the world, because they are strong and brutal. But at that time they will come from their land divided by rivers, and they will bring gifts to the Lord All-Powerful, who is worshiped on Mount Zion.