Message to Ethiopia

1
Alas, oh land of whirring wings
Which lies beyond the rivers of Cush, 2
Which sends envoys by the sea,
Even in papyrus vessels on the surface of the waters.
Go, swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth,
To a people feared far and wide,
A powerful and oppressive nation
Whose land the rivers divide. 3
All you inhabitants of the world and dwellers on earth,
As soon as a standard is raised on the mountains, you will see {it,}
And as soon as the trumpet is blown, you will hear {it.}

 4 For thus the LORD has told me,
“I will look from My dwelling place quietly
Like dazzling heat in the sunshine,
Like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest. 5
For before the harvest, as soon as the bud blossoms
And the flower becomes a ripening grape,
Then He will cut off the sprigs with pruning knives
And remove {and} cut away the spreading branches. 6
They will be left together for mountain birds of prey,
And for the beasts of the earth;
And the birds of prey will spend the summer {feeding} on them,
And all the beasts of the earth will spend harvest time on them. 7
At that time a gift of homage will be brought to the LORD of hosts
From a people tall and smooth,
Even from a people feared far and wide,
A powerful and oppressive nation,
Whose land the rivers divide–
To the place of the name of the LORD of hosts, {even} Mount Zion.