< Isaya 18 >
1 Ole kwa nchi ya wezi wa mabawa, iliyoko mbali kupitia mito ya Ethiopia;
Ho! thou land of rustling wings, Beyond the rivers of Ethiopia!
2 wanowatuma mabalozi wao kwa kupitia bahari, na vyombo vya majani juu ya maji. Nendeni enyi wajumbe wepesi, kwa watu warefu na laini waishio kwenye nchi, kwa watu wanogopa mbali na karibu, taifa lenye nguvu, wakanyagao watu, ambao mito imegawanya nchi yao.
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 Watu wote wakaao duniani nao wakaao katika nchi, pale ishara itakaponyanyuliwa juu ya milima, angalia; na sikilizeni mbiu itakapopulizwa.
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 Yahwe asema hivi, ''nitachunguza kimyakimya kutoka nyumbani kwangu, kama kupika joto kwenye jua, na kama ukungu kwenye joto la mavuno.
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 Kabla ya mavuno, pale kipindi cha maua kinapoisha, na maua yako tayari kuwa zabibu. Atakata matawi kwa kupogoa ndoano, na atakatiwa chini na kuchukua matawi yaliyotawanyika.
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 Wataachwa kwa pamoja maana ndege wa milimani na wanyama wa duniani. Ndege watatua kwao majira ya joto, na wanyama wote watakuwa kwao kipindi cha baridi.''
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 Kwa mda huo kodi italetwa kwa Yahwe wa majeshi kwa watu warefu na laini, kwa watu wanohofia umbali na ukaribu, taifa imara na kukanyagwa chini, ambayo nchi yao imegawanjwa na mito, Kwa sehemu ya jina la Yahwe wa majeshi, mpaka mlima Sayuni.
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.