U-Isaya 18
1 Maye elizweni okuhatshaza kulo impiko, elingaphetsheya kwemifula yeEthiyophiya,
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 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.
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 Lina lonke bahlali bomhlaba, lani elihlezi elizweni, bonani lapho kuphakanyiswa uphawu ezintabeni, lizwe lapho kuvuthelwa uphondo.
[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 Ngoba yatsho njalo iNkosi kimi: Ngizathula ngikhangele ngisendaweni yami emisiweyo, njengokukhanya okutshisayo phezu kwesibane, njengeyezi lamazolo ekutshiseni kwesivuno.
[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 Ngoba mandulo kwesivuno, ihlumela seliphelele, lesithelo sesivini esingavuthwanga siyavuthwa emva kwamaluba, izaquma amahlumela ngezingqamu zokuthena, isuse izingatsha, iziqume.
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 Zizatshiywa ndawonye zibe ngezenyoni zezintaba ezidla inyama lezenyamazana zomhlaba. Lenyoni ezidla inyama zizachitha ihlobo phezu kwazo, lenyamazana zonke zomhlaba zichithe ubusika phezu kwazo.
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 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, 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.
