Jeremiah 6
1 Strengthen yourselves, ye sons of Benjamin, in the midst of Jerusalem, and sound the trumpet in Thecua, and set up the standard over Bethacarem: for evil is seen out of the north, and a great destruction.
“Benyaminfo, munguan nkɔbɔ mo ho aguaa! Munguan mfi Yerusalem! Monhyɛn torobɛnto no wɔ Tekoa! Munsi frankaa no wɔ Bet-Hakerem! Efisɛ amanehunu bobɔw fi atifi fam, ɔsɛe bi a ɛyɛ hu.
2 I have likened the daughter of Sion to a beautiful and delicate woman.
Mɛsɛe Ɔbabea Sion, ɔhoɔfɛfo sɔɔnɔ no.
3 The shepherds shall come to her with their flocks: they have pitched their tents against her round about: every one shall feed them that are under his hand.
Nguanhwɛfo ne wɔn nguankuw bɛba abetia no; wobesisi wɔn ntamadan atwa ne ho ahyia, wɔn mu biara bɛhwɛ ne kyɛfa so.”
4 Prepare ye war against her: arise, and let us go up at midday: woe unto us, for the day is declined, for the shadows of the evening are grown longer.
“Munsiesie mo ho ne no nkɔko! Monsɔre, momma yɛnkɔtow nhyɛ ne so owigyinae! Nanso hwɛ, onwini redwo, na anwummere sunsuma reware.
5 Arise, and let us go up in the night, and destroy her houses.
Enti monsɔre, momma yɛnkɔtow nhyɛ ne so anadwo na yɛnsɛe nʼaban ahorow!”
6 For thus saith the Lord of hosts: Hew down her trees, cast up a trench about Jerusalem: this is the city to be visited, all oppression is in the midst of her.
Nea Asafo Awurade se ni: “Muntwitwa nnua no ngu fam na muntwa Yerusalem ho dantaban. Ɛsɛ sɛ wɔtwe kuropɔn yi aso; nhyɛso ahyɛ no ma.
7 As a cistern maketh its water cold, so hath she made her wickedness cold: violence and spoil shall be heard in her, infirmity and stripes are continually before me.
Sɛnea abura puw ne nsu no, saa ara na opuw nʼamumɔyɛ. Wɔte awurukasɛm ne ɔsɛe nka wɔ ne mu; ne yare ne nʼapirakuru wɔ mʼanim daa.
8 Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee, lest I make thee desolate, a land uninhabited.
Fa kɔkɔbɔ, Yerusalem, anyɛ saa metwe me ho afi wo ho na mama wʼasase ada mpan a obiara ntumi ntena so.”
9 Thus saith the Lord of hosts: They shall gather the remains of Israel, as in a vine, even to one cluster: turn back thy hand, as a grape gatherer into the basket.
Nea Asafo Awurade se ni: “Ma wonyiyi Israel nkae no mu yiye sɛnea woyiyi bobe mu yiye no; fa wo nsa fa mman no so bio, sɛ obi a ɔretetew bobe aba.”
10 To whom shall I speak? and to whom shall I testify, that he may hear? behold, their ears are uncircumcised, and they cannot hear: behold the word of the Lord is become unto them a reproach: and and they will not receive it.
Hena na metumi akasa akyerɛ no na mabɔ no kɔkɔ? Hena na obetie me? Wɔn aso asisiw enti wɔnte asɛm. Awurade asɛm yɛ akyiwade ma wɔn, na wɔn ani nnye ho.
11 Therefore am I full of the fury of the Lord, I am weary with holding in: pour it out upon the child abroad, and upon the council of the young men together: for man and woman shall be taken, the ancient and he that is full of days.
Nanso Awurade abufuwhyew ahyɛ me ma, na mintumi nkora so. “Hwie gu mmofra a wɔwɔ mmɔnten so ne mmerante a wɔahyia; ɛbɛka okunu ne ɔyere, mmasiriwa, wɔn a onyin ahunhuan wɔn no so.
12 And their houses shall be turned over to others, with their lands and their wives together: for I will stretch for my hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord.
Wɔbɛdan wɔn afi ama afoforo, wɔn mfuw ne wɔn yerenom bɛka ho; sɛ meteɛ me nsa wɔ wɔn a wɔte asase no so a,” sɛnea Awurade se ni.
13 For from the least of them even to the greatest, all are given to covetousness: and from the prophet even to the priest, all are guilty of deceit.
“Efi akumaa so kosi ɔkɛse so, wɔn nyinaa yɛ adifudepɛfo de pɛ ahonya; adiyifo ne asɔfo te saa, wɔn nyinaa yɛ asisifo.
14 And they healed the breach of the daughter of my people disgracefully, saying: Peace, peace: and there was no peace.
Wɔtoto me nkurɔfo apirakuru te sɛnea ɛnyɛ hu. Wɔka se, ‘Asomdwoe, asomdwoe’ wɔ mmere a asomdwoe nni hɔ.
15 They were confounded, because they committed abomination: yea, rather they were not confounded with confusion, and they knew not how to blush: wherefore they shall fall among them that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall fall down, saith the Lord.
Wɔn ani wu wɔ wɔn animguase nneyɛe no ho ana? Dabi da, wɔn ani nnwu koraa; wonnim fɛre mpo. Enti wɔbɛtotɔ wɔ atɔfo mu; wɔbɛhwehwe ase, sɛ metwe wɔn aso a,” sɛnea Awurade se ni.
16 Thus saith the Lord: Stand ye on the ways, and see and ask for the old paths which is the good way, and walk ye in it: and you shall find refreshment for your souls. And they said: we will not walk.
Eyi ne nea Awurade se, “Munnyina nkwantanan no so na monhwɛ; mummisa tete akwan no, mummisa faako a ɔkwan pa no da na monnantew so, na mubenya home ama mo akra. Nanso mokae se, ‘yɛnnantew so.’
17 And I appointed watchmen over you, saying: Hearken ye to the sound of the trumpet. And they said: We will not hearken.
Mede awɛmfo sisii mo so na mekae se, ‘Muntie torobɛnto nnyigyei no!’ Nanso mokae se, ‘Yɛrentie.’
18 Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what great things I will do to them.
Ɛno nti monyɛ aso, mo amanaman; mo a moyɛ nnansefo, monhwɛ, monhwɛ nea ɛbɛto wɔn.
19 Hear, O earth: Behold I will bring evils upon this people, the fruits of their own thoughts: because they have not heard my words, and they have cast away my law.
Tie, wo asase: Mede amanehunu reba saa nnipa yi so, wɔn nneyɛe so aba, efisɛ wɔantie me nsɛm na wɔapo me mmara.
20 To what purpose do you bring me frankincense from Saba, and the sweet smelling cane from a far country? your holocausts are not acceptable, nor are your sacrifices pleasing to me.
Nnuhuam a efi Seba anaa ahwerew pa a efi akyirikyiri asase so fa me ho bɛn? Minnye wo hyew afɔre no nto mu, wʼafɔrebɔ ahorow no nsɔ mʼani.”
21 Therefore thus saith the Lord: Behold, I will bring destruction upon this people, by which fathers and sons together shall fall, neighbor and kinsman shall perish.
Ɛno nti, nea Awurade se ni: “Mede akwanside begu saa nkurɔfo yi anim. Agyanom ne mmabarima nyinaa behintiw wɔ so; yɔnkonom ne nnamfonom bɛyera.”
22 Thus saith the Lord: Behold a people cometh from the land of the north, and a great nation shall rise up from the ends of the earth.
Sɛnea Awurade se ni: “Monhwɛ, nsraadɔm bi reba, wofi atifi fam asase so; wɔrehwanyan wɔn afi nsase ano.
23 They shall lay hold on arrow and shield: they are cruel, and will have no mercy. Their voice shall roar like the sea: and they shall mount upon horses, prepared as men for war, against thee, O daughter of Sion.
Wokurakura bɛmma ne mpeaw; wɔn tirim yɛ den, na wonni ahummɔbɔ. Wɔn nnyigyei te sɛ po asorɔkye. Sɛ wɔtete wɔn apɔnkɔ so a, wɔba te sɛ mmarima a wɔrekɔ ɔko. Wɔrebɛtow ahyɛ wo so, Ɔbabea Sion.”
24 We have heard the fame thereof, our hands grow feeble: anguish hath taken hold of us, as a woman in labor.
Yɛate wɔn ho nsɛm, na yɛn nsa sesa yɛn ho sɛ nea awuwu. Awerɛhow akyekyere yɛn yɛte yaw sɛ ɔbea a ɔreko awo.
25 Go not out into the fields, nor walk in the highway: for the sword of the enemy, and fear is on every side.
Mfi adi nkɔ wuram na nnantew akwan no so, efisɛ ɔtamfo no wɔ afoa, na baabiara ayɛ hu.
26 Gird thee with sackcloth, O daughter of my people, and sprinkle thee with ashes: make thee mourning as for an only son, a bitter lamentation, because the destroyer shall suddenly come upon us.
Me nkurɔfo, mumfura atweaatam na mommunummunum wɔ nsõ mu, momfa adwadwotwa yaayaw nni awerɛhow sɛnea wosu ma ɔbabarima koro, efisɛ ɔsɛefo no bɛba yɛn so mpofirim.
27 I have set thee for a strong trier among my people: and thou shalt know and prove their way.
“Mayɛ wo obi a ɔsɔ agude hwɛ na me nkurɔfo dadeben, a wobɛhwɛ na woasɔ wɔn akwan ahwɛ.
28 All of these princes go out of the way, they walk deceitfully, they are brass and iron: they are all corrupted.
Wɔn nyinaa yɛ atuatewfo a wɔyɛ den, wɔnenam di nseku. Wɔyɛ kɔbere ne dade; wɔn nyinaa yɛ wɔn ade wɔ porɔwee kwan so.
29 The bellows have failed, the lead is consumed in the fire, the founder hath melted in vain: for their wicked deeds are not consumed.
Afa no bɔ mframa dennen de ogya nan sumpii no, nanso ɔnan no yɛ ɔkwa. Entumi nyiyii bɔne no mfii wɔn mu ɛ.
30 Call them reprobate silver, for the Lord hath rejected them.
Wɔfrɛ wɔn dwetɛ a wɔapo, efisɛ Awurade apo wɔn.”
