1 A Prophecy Against Cush
1 Woe to the land of whirring wings[a] 1 along the rivers of Cush,[b]
2 which sends envoys by sea 2 in papyrus boats over the water. 2 Go, swift messengers, 2 to a people tall and smooth-skinned, 2 to a people feared far and wide, 2 an aggressive nation of strange speech, 2 whose land is divided by rivers.
3 All you people of the world, 3 you who live on the earth, 3 when a banner is raised on the mountains, 3 you will see it, 3 and when a trumpet sounds, 3 you will hear it.
4 This is what the Lord says to me: 4 "I will remain quiet and will look on from my dwelling place, 4 like shimmering heat in the sunshine, 4 like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest."
5 For, before the harvest, when the blossom is gone 5 and the flower becomes a ripening grape, 5 he will cut off the shoots with pruning knives, 5 and cut down and take away the spreading branches.
6 They will all be left to the mountain birds of prey 6 and to the wild animals; 6 the birds will feed on them all summer, 6 the wild animals all winter.
7 At that time gifts will be brought to the Lord Almighty 7 from a people tall and smooth-skinned, 7 from a people feared far and wide, 7 an aggressive nation of strange speech, 7 whose land is divided by rivers— 7 the gifts will be brought to Mount Zion, the place of the Name of the Lord Almighty.
