Ἠσαΐας 18
1 οὐαὶ γῆς πλοίων πτέρυγες ἐπέκεινα ποταμῶν Αἰθιοπίας
Terrible things will happen to [you people] of Ethiopia! In your land there are many sailboats at the upper part of the Nile River.
2 ὁ ἀποστέλλων ἐν θαλάσσῃ ὅμηρα καὶ ἐπιστολὰς βυβλίνας ἐπάνω τοῦ ὕδατος πορεύσονται γὰρ ἄγγελοι κοῦφοι πρὸς ἔθνος μετέωρον καὶ ξένον λαὸν καὶ χαλεπόν τίς αὐτοῦ ἐπέκεινα ἔθνος ἀνέλπιστον καὶ καταπεπατημένον νῦν οἱ ποταμοὶ τῆς γῆς
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.
3 πάντες ὡς χώρα κατοικουμένη κατοικηθήσεται ἡ χώρα αὐτῶν ὡσεὶ σημεῖον ἀπὸ ὄρους ἀρθῇ ὡς σάλπιγγος φωνὴ ἀκουστὸν ἔσται
[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].”
4 ὅτι οὕτως εἶπέν μοι κύριος ἀσφάλεια ἔσται ἐν τῇ ἐμῇ πόλει ὡς φῶς καύματος μεσημβρίας καὶ ὡς νεφέλη δρόσου ἡμέρας ἀμήτου ἔσται
[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.”
5 πρὸ τοῦ θερισμοῦ ὅταν συντελεσθῇ ἄνθος καὶ ὄμφαξ ἀνθήσῃ ἄνθος ὀμφακίζουσα καὶ ἀφελεῖ τὰ βοτρύδια τὰ μικρὰ τοῖς δρεπάνοις καὶ τὰς κληματίδας ἀφελεῖ καὶ κατακόψει
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.
6 καὶ καταλείψει ἅμα τοῖς πετεινοῖς τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ τοῖς θηρίοις τῆς γῆς καὶ συναχθήσεται ἐπ’ αὐτοὺς τὰ πετεινὰ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ πάντα τὰ θηρία τῆς γῆς ἐπ’ αὐτὸν ἥξει
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).
7 ἐν τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ ἀνενεχθήσεται δῶρα κυρίῳ σαβαωθ ἐκ λαοῦ τεθλιμμένου καὶ τετιλμένου καὶ ἀπὸ λαοῦ μεγάλου ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν καὶ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα χρόνον ἔθνος ἐλπίζον καὶ καταπεπατημένον ὅ ἐστιν ἐν μέρει ποταμοῦ τῆς χώρας αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸν τόπον οὗ τὸ ὄνομα κυρίου σαβαωθ ἐπεκλήθη ὄρος Σιων
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.
