1Woe to the land of whirring wings beyond the rivers of Ethiopia;
2they send ambassadors by sea, across the water in papyrus-reed boats! Go, swift messengers, to a nation tall and bronzed, to a people feared far and near, to a strong and conquering nation whose land is divided by rivers!
3All you inhabitants of the world, you who live on the earth: when a banner is hoisted on the mountains, look! When the shofar is blown, listen!
4For ADONAI has said this to me: "I will look on from my place and do nothing, like heat shimmering in the sun, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest."
5For before the harvest, when the flowering is over, and the bud becomes a ripening grape, he will cut off the branches with pruning-knives, lop off the twigs and take them away.
6They will all be left to the vultures in the mountains and to the wild animals in the fields; the vultures will feed on them in summer, and the wild animals of the fields in winter.
7At that time tribute will be brought to ADONAI-Tzva'ot from a nation tall and bronzed, from a people feared far and near, from a strong and conquering nation whose land is divided by rivers, to the place where the name of ADONAI-Tzva'ot lives, Mount Tziyon.