Isaiah 18:4
2 which sends couriers by sea, in papyrus vessels on the waters. Go, swift messengers, to a people tall and smooth-skinned, to a people widely feared, to a powerful nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers.
3 All you people of the world and dwellers of the earth, when a banner is raised on the mountains, you will see it; when a ram’s horn sounds, you will hear it.
For this is what the LORD has told me: “I will quietly look on from My dwelling place, like shimmering heat in the sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”
5 For before the harvest, when the blossom is gone and the flower becomes a ripening grape, He will cut off the shoots with a pruning knife and remove and discard the branches.
6 They will all be left to the mountain birds of prey, and to the beasts of the land. The birds will feed on them in summer, and all the wild animals in winter.
This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- For this is what the LORD has told me: “I will quietly look on from My dwelling place, like shimmering heat in the sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”
- KJV
- For 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.
- WEB
- For the LORD said to me, “I will be still, and I will see in my dwelling place, like clear heat in sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”
- ASV
- For thus hath Jehovah said unto me, I will be still, and I will behold in my dwelling-place, like clear heat in sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.
- DARBY
- For thus hath Jehovah said unto me: I will take my rest, and I will observe from my dwelling-place like clear heat upon herbs, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.
- BLB
- For thus has said YHWH to me: “I will take My rest, and I will look on from My settled place, shimmering like heat upon the light, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”
- ÅB
- For så sa Herren til meg: Jeg vil være stille og se til i min bolig når heten brenner på en solskinnsdag, når skyen dugger i høstens hete.
- OTB
- For dette er hva Herren har sagt til meg: "Jeg vil forbli stille og observere fra mitt bosted, som skinnende varme i solskinnet, som en duggsky i høstens hete."
- B1930
- For så sa Herren til mig: Jeg vil være stille og se til i min bolig når heten brenner på en solskinnsdag, når skyen dugger i høstens hete.
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Hosea 5:15
Then I will return to My place until they admit their guilt and seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”
Read in contextIsaiah 26:21
For behold, the LORD is coming out of His dwelling to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth will reveal her bloodshed and will no longer conceal her slain.
Read in contextIsaiah 18:7
At that time gifts will be brought to the LORD of Hosts— from a people tall and smooth-skinned, from a people widely feared, from a powerful nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers— to Mount Zion, the place of the Name of the LORD of Hosts.
Read in contextIsaiah 12:6
Cry out and sing, O citizen of Zion, for great among you is the Holy One of Israel.”
Read in contextPsalms 132:13–14
For the LORD has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His home:
Read in context2 Samuel 23:4
is like the light of the morning at sunrise of a cloudless dawn, the glistening after the rain on the sprouting grass of the earth.’
Read in contextIsaiah 14:32
What answer will be given to the envoys of that nation? “The LORD has founded Zion, where His afflicted people will find refuge.”
Read in contextPsalms 72:6
May he be like rain that falls on freshly cut grass, like spring showers that water the earth.
Read in context