< Isaiah 18 >
1 Terrible things will happen to [you people] of Ethiopia! In your land there are many sailboats at the upper part of the Nile River.
Mawa na mokili oyo ezali na bamasuwa oyo ezalaka na bavwale lokola mabanki, bongo enanaka na ebale ya Kushi!
2 Your rulers send ambassadors that sail [quickly] down the river in papyrus boats. You messengers to Ethiopia, go quickly! Go [up the river] to people who are tall and who have smooth skin. People everywhere are afraid of those people, because they conquer and destroy [other nations]; they live in a land that is divided by branches of one large river.
Mawa na yo oyo otindaka bantoma na nzela ya ebale kati na bamasuwa oyo basala na papirisi, na likolo ya ebale monene! Bino bapanzi sango ya mbangu, bokende epai ya bato ya ekolo oyo bazalaka milayi mpe baposo ya nzoto na bango engengaka, epai ya bato ya ekolo oyo babangisaka na mosika, bato ya makasi oyo banyataka banguna na bango, mpe oyo bibale eleka kati na mokili na bango.
3 [You messengers] must tell people everywhere, to people everywhere, “Look when I lift up my battle flag on top of the mountain, and listen when I blow the ram’s horn [to signal that the battle is about to begin].”
Bino nyonso, bavandi ya mokili, bino oyo botondisi mabele, tango bakotombola bendele na likolo ya bangomba, bokomona; tango bakobeta kelelo, bokoyoka!
4 [Listen] because Yahweh has told me this: “I will watch quietly from where I live. I will watch as quietly as [SIM] the heat waves shimmer as they rises on a hot summer day, as quietly as the dew forms [on the ground] during harvest time.”
Pamba te, tala liloba oyo Yawe alobi na ngai: « Nakovanda kimia mpe nakotala wuta na ndako na Ngai, lokola kongala ya moyi to lokola mapata na tango ya molunge. »
5 But [even] before the army of Ethiopia starts to attack, while their plans are [slowly forming] like [SIM] grapes that are ripening, Yahweh will [get rid of them like a farmer who] [MET] cuts off the new shoots of the grapevines with his shears, and prunes the branches that have become very long.
Mpo ete liboso ya kobuka bambuma, tango bafololo ya mike etikaka kobima mpe ekomaka bambuma mibesu oyo ekomi pene ya kotela, bakataka bitape na likwangola, babwakaka mpe batiaka pembeni bitape.
6 All [the soldiers in the army of Ethiopia] will be killed, and their corpses will lie in the fields for vultures to eat their flesh in the (summer/hot season). Then wild animals will [chew on their bones] all during the (winter/cold season).
Bakosundola yango epai ya bandeke oyo eliaka misuni na likolo ya bangomba mpe epai ya banyama ya zamba. Bandeke minene ekolia yango na tango ya molunge mpe banyama ya zamba ekolia yango na tango ya malili.
7 At that time, the people of that land that is divided by the branches of that one big river will take gifts to Yahweh in Jerusalem. Those tall people who have smooth/dark skin, whom people everywhere are afraid of, because they conquer and destroy many countries, will take gifts to Jerusalem, the city where the Commander of the armies of angels lives.
Na tango wana, bakomema bakado epai na Yawe, Mokonzi ya mampinga, wuta epai ya ekolo ya bato milayi oyo poso ya nzoto na bango engengaka, wuta epai ya ekolo ya bato oyo babangisaka na mosika, bato ya makasi oyo banyataka banguna na bango, mpe oyo bibale eleka kati na mokili na bango, bakomema bakado yango na ngomba Siona, esika oyo Kombo ya Yawe, Mokonzi ya mampinga, ezalaka.