Isaiah
Chapter 18
Isaiah speaks about a land far up the Nile, beyond the rivers of Cush, whose messengers travel in light reed boats. God says he will watch quietly from where he lives, like heat shimmering in the sun, until the right moment. Then he will cut down the growing vines before harvest and leave them to birds and wild animals. In the end, that same distant people will bring gifts to the LORD at Mount Zion.
Plain reading written for preteens. Clear and complete, at about a fifth grade reading level.
Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia:
1Trouble is coming to the land of whirring wings, the land past the rivers of Cush.
"Ethiopia" in the KJV is Cush, the land along the upper Nile, south of Egypt. It is not the modern country of Ethiopia.
2That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!
2That land sends messengers down the water in boats made of reeds. Go, fast messengers, to a tall and smooth-skinned people, feared near and far, a strong nation with speech others cannot understand, whose land is cut through by rivers.
The KJV says "scattered and peeled," which sounds like a beaten people. The Hebrew describes tall people with smooth skin. The KJV "vessels of bulrushes" means light boats made from papyrus reeds.
3All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye.
3All you people in the world, everyone living on the earth, watch for the flag raised on the mountains. When the horn is blown, listen.
An "ensign" is a flag or banner raised high so everyone can see it, often a signal to gather.
4For so the LORD said unto me, I will take my rest, and I will consider in my dwelling place like a clear heat upon herbs, and like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.
4This is what the LORD told me: I will stay still and watch from my home, like heat shimmering in bright sun, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest time.
5For afore the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, he shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks, and take away and cut down the branches.
5Before the harvest comes, when the blossom has fallen and the flower is turning into a ripening grape, he will cut off the shoots with pruning knives and clear away the branches.
6They shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them.
6The cut branches will all be left for the birds of prey in the mountains and the wild animals. Birds will feed on them all summer, and animals all winter.
7In that time shall the present be brought unto the LORD of hosts of a people scattered and peeled, and from a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the place of the name of the LORD of hosts, the mount Zion.
7At that time gifts will be brought to the LORD of All Armies. They will come from that tall, smooth-skinned people, feared near and far, a strong nation with speech others cannot understand, whose land is cut through by rivers. The gifts will come to Mount Zion, the place where the LORD of All Armies has put his name.
"LORD of hosts" means the LORD who commands armies, including the armies of heaven.
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