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.
Zikusanze, ggwe ensi ey’ebiwaawaatiro ebikwakwaya, eri emitala w’emigga gya Kuusi,
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.
etuma ababaka ne bagendera mu maato ag’ebitoogo ku nnyanja. Mugende mmwe ababaka abangu, eri abantu abawanvu ab’emibiri emiweweevu, eri abantu abatiibwa abeewala n’ab’okumpi, eggwanga ery’amaanyi eryogera olulimi olutamanyiddwa, ensi eyawulwamu emigga.
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].”
Mmwe mwenna abantu abali mu nsi, mmwe ababeera ku nsi, bendera lweriwanikibwa ku nsozi, muligiraba, era ekkondeere bwe lirifuuyibwa, muliriwulira.
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.”
Kubanga bw’atyo Mukama bw’aŋŋambye nti, “Ndyesirikira ntunule nga nsinziira ewange, ng’olubugumu olutemagana mu musana, ng’ekire ky’omusulo mu lubugumu olw’omu biro eby’amakungula.”
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.
Kubanga okukungula kuliba tekunatuuka, okumulisa nga kuwedde, n’ekimuli nga kifuuka zabbibu eyengedde, aliwawaagula obutabi n’ebiwabyo, n’amatabi agalanda aligasalira.
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).
Gonna galirekerwa ennyonyi ez’oku nsozi ezirya ebiramu n’ensolo ez’ensi. Era ennyonyi ezirya ebiramu zirye okwo mu biseera by’ekyeya, n’ensolo zonna ez’omu nsiko zirye okwo mu biseera by’obunnyogovu.
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.
Mu kiseera ekyo Mukama Katonda ow’Eggye balimuleetera ebirabo, ensi ey’abantu abawanvu ab’emibiri emiweweevu, abantu abatiibwa abeewala n’abookumpi, ensi ey’eryanyi, eyawulwamu emigga, ku lusozi Sayuuni ekifo ky’erinnya lya Mukama Ayinzabyonna.
