Ethiopia will be punished

1Downstream from Ethiopia18.1 Ethiopia: See the note at 11.11.18.1-7: Zep 2.12.

lies the country of Egypt,

swarming with insects.18.1 insects: Or “sailing ships”.

2Egypt sends messengers

up the River Nile

on ships made of reeds.18.2 reeds: Ancient Egypt was famous for the papyrus reeds that grew in the Nile Delta.

Send them fast to Ethiopia,

whose people are tall

and have smooth skin.

Their land is divided by rivers;

they are strong and brutal,

feared all over the world.18.2 world: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 2.

3Everyone on this earth,

listen with care!

A signal will be given

on the mountains,

and you will hear a trumpet.

4The LORD said to me,

“I will calmly look down

from my home above—

as calmly as the sun at midday

or clouds in the heat

of harvest season.”

5Before the blossoms

can turn into grapes,

God will cut off the shoots

and hack off the branches.

6Ethiopians will be food

for mountain eagles

during the summer

and for wild animals

during the winter.

7Those Ethiopians are tall and their skin is smooth. They are feared all over the world, because they are strong and brutal. But at that time they will come from their land divided by rivers, and they will bring gifts to the LORD All-Powerful, who is worshipped on Mount Zion.