« | Isaiah 18 | » |
1 Listen, Ethiopia-- land of fluttering sails that lies at the headwaters of the Nile,
2 that sends ambassadors in swift boats down the river. Go, swift messengers! Take a message to a tall, smooth-skinned people, who are feared far and wide for their conquests and destruction, and whose land is divided by rivers.
3 All you people of the world, everyone who lives on the earth-- when I raise my battle flag on the mountain, look! When I blow the ram's horn, listen!
4 For the LORD has told me this: "I will watch quietly from my dwelling place-- as quietly as the heat rises on a summer day, or as the morning dew forms during the harvest."
5 Even before you begin your attack, while your plans are ripening like grapes, the LORD will cut off your new growth with pruning shears. He will snip off and discard your spreading branches.
6 Your mighty army will be left dead in the fields for the mountain vultures and wild animals. The vultures will tear at the corpses all summer. The wild animals will gnaw at the bones all winter.
7 At that time the LORD of Heaven's Armies will receive gifts from this land divided by rivers, from this tall, smooth-skinned people, who are feared far and wide for their conquests and destruction. They will bring the gifts to Jerusalem, where the LORD of Heaven's Armies dwells.
The New Living Translation (NLT)
The New Living Translation (NLT) is a modern English translation of the Bible that aims to make the Scriptures accessible and engaging for contemporary readers. First published in 1996 by Tyndale House Publishers, the NLT was conceived as an effort to create a translation that combines both accuracy and readability. Unlike many other translations that focus on a word-for-word rendering of the original texts, the NLT employs a thought-for-thought translation philosophy, also known as dynamic equivalence. This approach prioritizes conveying the meaning and message of the original texts in a way that is natural and understandable in modern English.
One of the defining features of the NLT is its commitment to clarity and simplicity. The translators, a team of over 90 evangelical scholars, aimed to create a text that would be approachable for a wide audience, including those who may find traditional translations challenging to read. The NLT’s language is contemporary and conversational, making it particularly effective for public reading, teaching, and personal study. This emphasis on readability helps ensure that the profound messages of the Bible are easily grasped and retained by readers from various backgrounds and levels of biblical knowledge.