Isaiah 18:4

2 That 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!

3 All 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.

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.

5 For 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.

6 They 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.

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

    I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.

    Read in context
  • Isaiah 26:21

    For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.

    Read in context
  • Isaiah 18:7

    In 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.

    Read in context
  • Isaiah 12:6

    Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.

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  • Psalms 132:13–14

    For the LORD hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation.

    Read in context
  • 2 Samuel 23:4

    And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain.

    Read in context
  • Isaiah 14:32

    What shall one then answer the messengers of the nation? That the LORD hath founded Zion, and the poor of his people shall trust in it.

    Read in context
  • Psalms 72:6

    He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth.

    Read in context