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.
Maye ngelizwe elilokuphaphazela kwempiko emifuleni yaseKhushi,
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.
elithuma izithunywa zihamba olwandle ngezikepe zemihlanga phezu kwamanzi. Hambani, zithunywa ezilejubane, liye ebantwini abade abalejwabu elibutshelezi, ebantwini abesatshwayo ezindaweni zonke, isizwe esilolaka, esilolimi olungaziwayo, esilizwe laso lehlukaniswe yimifula.
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].”
Lonke lina bantu bomhlaba, lina elihlala emhlabeni, lapho uphawu luphakanyiswa phezu kwezintaba lizalubona, lalapho uphondo lukhala lizaluzwa.
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.”
Lokhu yikho uThixo akutshoyo kimi: “Ngizakwala ngithule, ngikhangele ngisendaweni yami yokuhlala, njengokucwebezela kokutshisa ekukhanyeni kwelanga, lanjengenkungu yamazolo ngesikhathi sokuvuna.”
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.
Ngoba kungakavunwa, lapho ukukhahlela sekudlule, amaluba esesiba livini elivuthiweyo, uzaquma amahlumela ngamahloka okuthena, aqume lengatsha ezinabayo, azisuse.
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).
Zonke zizatshiyelwa izinyoni zasezintabeni ezidla inyama, lezinyamazana zeganga; izinyoni zizakudla ihlobo lonke, izinyamazana zeganga ubusika bonke.
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.
Ngalesosikhathi izipho zizalethwa kuThixo uSomandla zivela ebantwini abade abalamajwabu abutshelezi, zivela ebantwini abesatshwayo ezindaweni zonke. Isizwe esilolaka, esilolimi olungaziwayo, esilizwe laso lehlukaniswe yimifula, izipho zizalethwa entabeni iZiyoni, endaweni yeBizo likaThixo uSomandla.
