1 W oe to the land whirring with wings which is beyond the rivers of Cush or Ethiopia,

¶ Woe to the land which makes shade with her wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia:

2 T hat sends ambassadors by the Nile, even in vessels of papyrus upon the waters! Go, you swift messengers, to a nation tall and polished, to a people terrible from their beginning, a nation strong and victorious, whose land the rivers divide!

He who sends ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to the people scattered and peeled, to the people full of fears from their beginning, and until now, a people tired of waiting and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!

3 A ll you inhabitants of the world, you who dwell on the earth, when a signal is raised on the mountains—look! When a trumpet is blown—hear!

All ye inhabitants of the world and neighbours of the land, when he lifts up a banner as an example on the mountains, ye shall see it; and when he blows the shofar, ye shall hear it.

4 F or thus the Lord has said to me: I will be still and I will look on from My dwelling place, like clear and glowing heat in sunshine, like a fine cloud of mist in the heat of harvest.

For so the LORD said unto me, I will take my rest, and I will look forth from my dwelling place like a clear sun after the rain and like a cloud filled with dew in the heat of the harvest.

5 F or before the harvest, when the blossom is over and the flower becomes a ripening grape, He will cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks, and the spreading branches He will remove and cut away.

For before the harvest, when the fruit is perfect, and after the flower is past and the fruit is mature, then he shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks and take away and cut down the branches.

6 T hey shall be left together to the ravenous birds of the mountains and to the beasts of the earth; and the ravenous birds will summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth will winter upon them.

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.

7 A t that time shall a present be brought to the Lord of hosts from a people tall and polished, from a people terrible from their beginning and feared and dreaded near and far, a nation strong and victorious, whose land the rivers or great channels divide—to the place of the Name of the Lord of hosts, to Mount Zion.

In that time the present shall be brought unto the LORD of the hosts, the people scattered and peeled, the people full of fears from their beginning and until now, a people tired of waiting and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the place of the name of the LORD of the hosts, to the Mount Zion.