1 W oe to the land shadowed with buzzing wings, Which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia,

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

2 W hich sends ambassadors by sea, Even in vessels of reed on the waters, saying, “Go, swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth of skin, To a people terrible from their beginning onward, A nation powerful and treading down, 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 inhabitants of the world and dwellers on the earth: When he lifts up a banner on the mountains, you see it; And when he blows a trumpet, you hear it.

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 so the Lord said to me, “I will take My rest, And I will look from My dwelling place Like clear heat in sunshine, Like a cloud of dew 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 bud is perfect And the sour grape is ripening in the flower, He will both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks And take away and cut down the branches.

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 will be left together for the mountain birds of prey And for the beasts of the earth; The birds of prey will summer on them, And all the beasts of the earth will winter on 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 I n that time a present will be brought to the Lord of hosts From a people tall and smooth of skin, And from a people terrible from their beginning onward, A nation powerful and treading down, Whose land the rivers 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.