U-Isaya 18

1 Maye ngelizwe elilokuphaphazela kwempiko emifuleni yaseKhushi,

Woe to the land of whirring wings, along the rivers of Cush,

2 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.

which sends couriers by sea, in papyrus vessels on the waters. Go, swift messengers, to a people tall and smooth-skinned, to a people widely feared, to a powerful nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers.

3 Lonke lina bantu bomhlaba, lina elihlala emhlabeni, lapho uphawu luphakanyiswa phezu kwezintaba lizalubona, lalapho uphondo lukhala lizaluzwa.

All you people of the world and dwellers of the earth, when a banner is raised on the mountains, you will see it; when a ram’s horn sounds, you will hear it.

4 Lokhu yikho uThixo akutshoyo kimi: “Ngizakwala ngithule, ngikhangele ngisendaweni yami yokuhlala, njengokucwebezela kokutshisa ekukhanyeni kwelanga, lanjengenkungu yamazolo ngesikhathi sokuvuna.”

For this is what the LORD has told me: “I will quietly look on from My dwelling place, like shimmering heat in the sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”

5 Ngoba kungakavunwa, lapho ukukhahlela sekudlule, amaluba esesiba livini elivuthiweyo, uzaquma amahlumela ngamahloka okuthena, aqume lengatsha ezinabayo, azisuse.

For before the harvest, when the blossom is gone and the flower becomes a ripening grape, He will cut off the shoots with a pruning knife and remove and discard the branches.

6 Zonke zizatshiyelwa izinyoni zasezintabeni ezidla inyama, lezinyamazana zeganga; izinyoni zizakudla ihlobo lonke, izinyamazana zeganga ubusika bonke.

They will all be left to the mountain birds of prey, and to the beasts of the land. The birds will feed on them in summer, and all the wild animals in winter.

7 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.

At that time gifts will be brought to the LORD of Hosts— from a people tall and smooth-skinned, from a people widely feared, from a powerful nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers— to Mount Zion, the place of the Name of the LORD of Hosts.