U-Isaya 18

1 Maye elizweni okuhatshaza kulo impiko, elingaphetsheya kwemifula yeEthiyophiya,

Ho! thou land of rustling wings, Beyond the rivers of Ethiopia!

2 elithuma izithunywa ngolwandle langemikhumbi yemihlanga ebusweni bamanzi! Hambani, zithunywa ezilejubane, liye esizweni eside lesibutshelezi, esizweni esesabekayo kusukela lapho kusiya phambili, isizwe esingumzilamzila esinyathelela phansi, esilizwe laso imifula iyalehlukanisa.

That sendest thy messengers upon the sea, In reed-boats upon the face of the waters: Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation tall and fair, To a people terrible from the first and onward, To a mighty, victorious people, Whose land is divided by rivers!

3 Lina lonke bahlali bomhlaba, lani elihlezi elizweni, bonani lapho kuphakanyiswa uphawu ezintabeni, lizwe lapho kuvuthelwa uphondo.

All ye inhabitants of the world, ye that dwell on the earth, When the standard is lifted up on the mountains, behold! When the trumpet is sounded, hear!

4 Ngoba yatsho njalo iNkosi kimi: Ngizathula ngikhangele ngisendaweni yami emisiweyo, njengokukhanya okutshisayo phezu kwesibane, njengeyezi lamazolo ekutshiseni kwesivuno.

For thus hath Jehovah said to me: “I will sit still, and look on from my dwelling-place, Like a serene heat when the sun shineth, Like a dewy cloud in the heat of harvest.”

5 Ngoba mandulo kwesivuno, ihlumela seliphelele, lesithelo sesivini esingavuthwanga siyavuthwa emva kwamaluba, izaquma amahlumela ngezingqamu zokuthena, isuse izingatsha, iziqume.

But before the vintage, when the bud is gone, And the blossom is ripening into a swelling grape, He shall cut off the shoots with pruning-hooks, And the branches he shall take away and cut down.

6 Zizatshiywa ndawonye zibe ngezenyoni zezintaba ezidla inyama lezenyamazana zomhlaba. Lenyoni ezidla inyama zizachitha ihlobo phezu kwazo, lenyamazana zonke zomhlaba zichithe ubusika phezu kwazo.

They shall be left together to the ravenous birds of the mountains, And to the wild beasts of the earth. The ravenous birds shall summer upon it, And every wild beast of the earth shall winter upon it.

7 Ngalesosikhathi kuzalethwa isipho eNkosini yamabandla, isizwe eside lesibutshelezi, lesizweni esesabekayo kusukela lapho kusiya phambili, isizwe esingumzilamzila esinyathelela phansi, esilizwe laso imifula iyalehlukanisa, siye endaweni yebizo leNkosi yamabandla, intaba yeZiyoni.

At that time shall gifts be brought to Jehovah of hosts From a nation tall and fair, From a people terrible from the first and onward, A mighty, victorious people, Whose land is divided by rivers, To the dwelling-place of Jehovah of hosts, to mount Zion.