18 Woe, land of buzzing^[a] wings
    beyond the rivers of Cush,^(A)
2 sending ambassadors by the Nile
    in vessels of papyrus on the waters!
Go, you swift messengers,
    to a nation tall and smooth,
to a people feared near and far,
    a nation mighty^[b] and conquering,
    whose land the rivers divide.^(B)

⁹ I will trouble the hearts of many peoples
    as I carry you captive^[a] among the nations,
    into countries you have not known.^(A)
10 I will make many peoples appalled at you;
    their kings shall shudder because of you.
When I brandish my sword before them,
    they shall tremble every moment
for their lives, each one of them,
    on the day of your downfall.^(B)

⁵ When the report comes to Egypt,
    they will be in anguish over the report about Tyre.

² Wail, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen,
    for the glorious trees are ruined!
Wail, oaks of Bashan,
    for the thick forest has been felled!^(A)
3 Listen, the wail of the shepherds,
    for their glory is despoiled!
Listen, the roar of the lions,
    for the thickets of the Jordan are destroyed!^(B)

¹⁵ Is this the exultant city
    that lived secure,
that said to itself,
    “I am, and there is no one else”?
What a desolation it has become,
    a lair for wild animals!
Everyone who passes by it
    hisses and shakes the fist.^(A)

² The Lord God has sworn by his holiness:
    The time is surely coming upon you
when they shall take you away with hooks,
    even the last of you with fishhooks.^(A)