1 Oh, the lande shadowing with winges, which is beyond the riuers of Ethiopia, 2 Sending ambassadours by the Sea, euen in vessels of reedes vpon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation that is scattered abroade, and spoyled, vnto a terrible people from their beginning euen hitherto: a nation by litle and litle, euen troden vnder foote, whose land the floods haue spoyled. 3 Al ye the inhabitants of ye world and dwellers in the earth, shall see when he setteth vp a signe in the mountaines, and when he bloweth the trumpet, ye shall heare. 4 For so the Lord saide vnto me, I will rest and beholde in my tabernacle, as the heate drying vp the rayne, and as a cloude of dewe in the heate of haruest. 5 For afore the haruest when the floure is finished, and the fruite is riping in the floure, then he shall cut downe the branches with hookes, and shall take away, and cut off the boughes: 6 They shall be left together vnto the foules of the mountaines, and to the beastes of the earth: for the foule shall sommer vpon it, and euery beast of the earth shall winter vpon it. 7 At that time shall a present be brought vnto the Lord of hostes, (a people that is scattered abroade, and spoyled, and of a terrible people from their beginning hitherto, a nation, by litle and litle euen troden vnder foote, whose land the riuers haue spoyled) to the place of the Name of the Lord of hostes, euen the mount Zion.
God Will Punish Ethiopia
1 Beyond the rivers of Ethiopia there is a land where the sound of wings is heard. 2 From that land ambassadors come down the Nile in boats made of reeds. Go back home, swift messengers! Take a message back to your land divided by rivers, to your strong and powerful nation, to your tall and smooth-skinned people, who are feared all over the world.
3 Listen, everyone who lives on earth! Look for a signal flag to be raised on the mountaintops! Listen for the blowing of the bugle! 4 The Lord said to me, “I will look down from heaven as quietly as the dew forms in the warm nights of harvest time, as serenely as the sun shines in the heat of the day. 5 Before the grapes are gathered, when the blossoms have all fallen and the grapes are ripening, the enemy will destroy the Ethiopians as easily as a knife cuts branches from a vine. 6 The corpses of their soldiers will be left exposed to the birds and the wild animals. In summer the birds will feed on them, and in winter, the animals.”
7 A time is coming when the Lord Almighty will receive offerings from this land divided by rivers, this strong and powerful nation, this tall and smooth-skinned people, who are feared all over the world. They will come to Mount Zion, where the Lord Almighty is worshiped.