The Lord will punish the people of Cush
1The people who come from the land
where there are many insects will suffer,
there at the rivers in the land of Cush.
2The people of Cush sent people to Jerusalem,
and they came over the water
in boats made of reeds.
But these people who came so quickly
must go back to their own nation,
to the big people who have shiny skins,
the people who make everyone afraid,
the people who are strong
and attack other people easily,
the people who come from the land
where a lot of rivers flow.
3All of you who live on earth,
everyone in the world,
you will see when someone holds up
a flag on the mountains,
and you will hear when someone blows the trumpet.
4Because the Lord said to me:
‘I will look quietly from my home above
and I will see everything,
like the sun looking down at noon,
and like a cloud on a hot day in summer.
5But before people have started
harvesting the wheat,
before the flowers on the vines
become ripe grapes,
the Lord will cut off the branches
with a pruning knife
and He will throw them away.
6He will leave the branches for the birds
of the mountains and for the wild animals.
In summer time the birds will eat them
and in winter time the wild animals will eat them.
That is what will happen to the people of Cush.
7Then the big people
who have shiny skins will come,
the people who make everyone afraid,
the people who are strong
and attack other people easily,
the people who come from the land
where a lot of rivers flow.
They will come and bring gifts
to the Lord who rules over all.
They will bring them to Mount_Zion,
the place where people worship the Lord,
who rules over all.’
