Who are these who float along ¹  like a cloud, who fly like doves to their shelters? ² 

But then one of the seraphs flew toward me. In his hand was a hot coal he had taken from the altar with tongs.

Just as birds hover over a nest, ¹  so the Lord who commands armies will protect Jerusalem. ²  He will protect and deliver it; as he passes over ³  he will rescue it.

Seraphs ¹  stood over him; each one had six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, ²  and they used the remaining two to fly.

They will swoop down ¹  on the Philistine hills to the west; ²  together they will loot the people of the east. They will take over Edom and Moab, ³  and the Ammonites will be their subjects.

Don’t be so happy, all you Philistines, just because the club that beat you has been broken! ¹  For a viper will grow out of the serpent’s root, and its fruit will be a darting adder. ² 

This is a message ¹  about the animals in the Negev: Through a land of distress and danger, inhabited by lionesses and roaring lions, ²  by snakes and darting adders, ³  they transport ⁴  their wealth on the backs of donkeys, their riches on the humps of camels, to a nation that cannot help them. ⁵