The Lord Will Judge a Distant Land in the South

¹The land of buzzing wings is as good as dead,[#tn Heb “Woe [to] the land of buzzing wings.” On הוֹי (hoy, “woe, ah”) see the note on the first phrase of 1:4.sn The significance of the qualifying phrase “buzzing wings” is uncertain. Some suggest that the designation points to Cush as a land with many insects. Another possibility is that it refers to the swiftness with which this land’s messengers travel (v. 2a); they move over the sea as swiftly as an insect flies through the air. For a discussion of the options, see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:359-60.]

the one beyond the rivers of Cush,

²that sends messengers by sea,

who glide over the water’s surface in boats made of papyrus.

Go, you swift messengers,

to a nation of tall, smooth-skinned people,

to a people that are feared far and wide,

to a nation strong and victorious,

whose land rivers divide.

³All you who live in the world,

who reside on the earth,

you will see a signal flag raised on the mountains;

you will hear a trumpet being blown.

⁴For this is what the Lord has told me:

“I will wait and watch from my place,

like scorching heat produced by the sunlight,

like a cloud of mist in the heat of harvest.”

⁵For before the harvest, when the bud has sprouted,

and the ripening fruit appears,

he will cut off the unproductive shoots with pruning knives;

he will prune the tendrils.

⁶They will all be left for the birds of the hills[#tn Heb “they will be left together” (so NASB).]

and the wild animals;

the birds will eat them during the summer,

and all the wild animals will eat them during the winter.

⁷At that time

tribute will be brought to the Lord who commands armies,

by a people that are tall and smooth-skinned,

a people that are feared far and wide,

a nation strong and victorious,

whose land rivers divide.

The tribute will be brought to the place where the Lord who commands armies has chosen to reside, on Mount Zion.