An oracle concerning Egypt. See, the Lord is riding on a swift cloud and comes to Egypt; the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence, and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.
For I heard a cry as of a woman in labor, anguish as of one bringing forth her first child, the cry of daughter Zion gasping for breath, stretching out her hands, “Woe is me! I am fainting before killers!”
Look, he shall mount up and swoop down like an eagle and spread his wings against Bozrah, and the heart of the warriors of Edom on that day shall be like the heart of a woman in labor.
They grasp the bow and the javelin; they are cruel and have no mercy; their sound is like the roaring sea; they ride on horses, equipped like a warrior for battle, against you, O daughter Zion!
For a sound of wailing is heard from Zion: “How we are ruined! We are utterly shamed because we have left the land, because they have cast down our dwellings.”
His horses shall be so many that their dust shall cover you. At the noise of cavalry, wheels, and chariots your very walls shall shake when he enters your gates like those entering a breached city.
“At the time of the end the king of the south shall attack him. But the king of the north shall rush upon him like a whirlwind, with chariots and horsemen and with many ships. He shall advance against countries and pass through like a flood.
The first was like a lion and had eagles’ wings. Then, as I watched, its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a human being, and a human mind was given to it.
On that day they shall take up a taunt song against you and wail with bitter lamentation and say, “We are utterly ruined; the Lord alters the inheritance of my people; how he removes it from me! Among our captors he parcels out our fields.”
The Lord is slow to anger but great in power, and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty. His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
Their horses are swifter than leopards, more menacing than wolves at dusk; their horses charge. Their horsemen come from far away; they fly like an eagle swift to devour.
“Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see ‘the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven’ with power and great glory.
The Lord will bring a nation from far away, from the end of the earth, to swoop down on you like an eagle, a nation whose language you do not understand,
Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. So it is to be. Amen.