| International Standard Version | NET Bible |
| 1Woe to the land of whirring wings that is beyond the rivers of Cush, | 1The land of buzzing wings is as good as dead, the one beyond the rivers of Cush, |
| 2which sends envoys by the sea, in papyrus boats over the water! Go, swift messengers, to a tall, smooth-skinned nation, to a people feared far and wide, a nation that metes out punishment and oppresses, whose land the rivers divide. | 2that sends messengers by sea, who glide over the water's surface in boats made of papyrus. Go, you swift messengers, to a nation of tall, smooth-skinned people, to a people that are feared far and wide, to a nation strong and victorious, whose land rivers divide. |
| 3All you inhabitants of the world, you who live on the earth, when a banner is raised on the mountains, you'll see it. When a trumpet sounds, you'll hear it! | 3All you who live in the world, who reside on the earth, you will see a signal flag raised on the mountains; you will hear a trumpet being blown. |
| 4For this is what the LORD told me: "I will remain quiet and watch in my dwelling place like dazzling heat in sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest." | 4For this is what the LORD has told me: "I will wait and watch from my place, like scorching heat produced by the sunlight, like a cloud of mist in the heat of harvest." |
| 5For before the harvest, when the season of budding is over, and sour grapes ripen into mature grapes, he cuts off the shoots with pruning knives, clearing away the spreading branches as he lops them off. | 5For before the harvest, when the bud has sprouted, and the ripening fruit appears, he will cut off the unproductive shoots with pruning knives; he will prune the tendrils. |
| 6And they will all be left for birds of prey that live on the mountains and for wild animals. Birds of prey will pass the summer feeding on them, and all the wild animals will pass the winter feeding on them. | 6They will all be left for the birds of the hills and the wild animals; the birds will eat them during the summer, and all the wild animals will eat them during the winter. |
| 7At that time tribute will be brought to the LORD of the Heavenly Armies from a tall and smooth-skinned people, from a people feared far and wide, a nation that metes out punishment and oppresses, whose land the rivers divide, to Mount Zion, the place that bears the name of the LORD. | 7At that time tribute will be brought to the LORD who commands armies, by a people that are tall and smooth-skinned, a people that are feared far and wide, a nation strong and victorious, whose land rivers divide. The tribute will be brought to the place where the LORD who commands armies has chosen to reside, on Mount Zion. |
|
