Isaiah 18

I have been trying to finish reading the Old Testament for several years now.  In the past I have made it past the books of Moses but not too much past that so a few years ago I made it a goal to finish it.  I don't read everyday but I try to.  I also read a chapter in the Book of Mormon everyday too.  I have been using the LDS Institute Student Manual to help me understand the Old Testament.  Today I read Isaiah 17 and 18.  I read in the student manual something that impressed me.  President Joseph Fielding Smith stated that verse one in chapter 18 is a mistranslation.  A more accurate translation would be "Hail, to the land in the shape of wings."  It is a greeting rather than a woe.  He then went on to say that he once saw a picture of the American continent printed on a magazine in a shape of wings.  He went on to explain that the chapter was about missionary work and the gathering of Israel.  So after I read that I read the chapter in a whole new light.  The last verse, verse 7, also has some more accurate translations.  A direct quote from the student manual, "The Jesualem Bible renders the phrase in Isaiah 18, 'a people terrible from the beginning,' as 'the nation always feared'; and it renders the phrase 'whose land the rivers have spoiled' as 'the country criss-crossed with rivers.' These passages seem to refer to America, where the Restoration was to take place."

I am so glad we have modern revelation and prophets today to help us understand the words of prophets long passed away.  Could you imagine trying to describe something you have never seen but in a vision, of things that have not been discovered or invented yet?  That would be a feat.