Isaya 18
1 Ole kwa nchi ya mvumo wa mabawa, kando ya mito ya Kushi,
Tragedy is coming to the land of whirring wings that lies along the rivers of Ethiopia,
2 iwapelekayo wajumbe wake kwa njia ya bahari kwa mashua za mafunjo juu ya maji. Nendeni, wajumbe wepesi, kwa taifa la watu warefu wenye ngozi nyororo, kwa taifa linaloogopwa mbali na karibu, taifa gomvi lenye lugha ngeni, ambalo nchi yao imegawanywa kwa mito.
They send messengers downriver in papyrus boats. Swift messengers, go and take a message to a tall and smooth-skinned people, to a people feared by everyone, to a very powerful nation of conquerors, whose land is washed away by rivers.
3 Enyi mataifa yote ya ulimwengu, ninyi mnaoishi duniani wakati bendera itakapoinuliwa milimani, mtaiona, nayo tarumbeta itakapolia, mtaisikia.
All you people of the world, everyone who lives on earth—you will see when a banner is raised on the mountains, you will hear when a trumpet sounds.
4 Hili ndilo Bwana aliloniambia: “Nitatulia kimya na kutazama kutoka maskani yangu, kama joto linalometameta katika mwanga wa jua, kama wingu la umande katika joto la wakati wa mavuno.”
For this is what the Lord has told me: I will watch quietly from where I live, quiet as heat haze in sunlight, quiet as a mistcloud in the heat of harvest.
5 Kwa maana, kabla ya mavuno, wakati wa kuchanua ukishapita na maua yakawa zabibu zinazoiva, atayakata machipukizi kwa mundu wa kupogolea matawi, naye atakata na kuyaondoa matawi yaliyopanuka.
For before the harvest, after the flower is gone and becomes an unripe grape, he prunes the vine with a knife to take out the shoots and branches.
6 Yote yataachwa kwa ajili ya ndege wawindao wa mlimani na wanyama pori, ndege watajilisha juu yake wakati wote wa kiangazi, nao wanyama pori wakati wote wa masika.
They will all be left as carrion for the birds of prey of the mountains, and for the wild animals. The birds will eat them in summer, and all the wild animals in winter.
7 Wakati huo matoleo yataletwa kwa Bwana Mwenye Nguvu Zote kutoka kwa taifa la watu warefu wenye ngozi nyororo, kutoka kwa taifa linaloogopwa mbali na karibu, kutoka taifa gomvi lenye lugha ngeni, ambalo nchi yao imegawanywa kwa mito, matoleo yataletwa katika Mlima Sayuni, mahali pa Jina la Bwana Mwenye Nguvu Zote.
At that time a gift will be brought to the Lord Almighty from a tall and smooth-skinned people, from a people feared by everyone, from a very powerful nation of conquerors, whose land is washed away by rivers. It will be brought to Mount Zion, the place identified with the Lord Almighty.
