Jeremiah 12
1 Lord, when I complain to you, you always show yourself to be in the right. Even so I still want to present my case to you. Why is it that wicked people do so well? Why do those who are unfaithful to you live so comfortably?
Woyɛ ɔtreneeni bere biara, Awurade, sɛ mede asɛm to wʼanim a. Nso me ne wo bɛkasa afa wʼatɛntrenee ho: Adɛn nti na amumɔyɛfo kwan si wɔn yiye? Adɛn nti na wɔn a wonni gyidi ho dwo wɔn?
2 You planted them, and they've taken root, grown, and produced fruit. They're always talking about you but they don't think of you, even for a moment.
Woadua wɔn, na wɔagye ntin; wonyinyin na wɔsow aba. Wɔbɔ wo din bere biara nanso wɔn koma mmɛn wo.
3 But you know me, Lord, you see me, and examine what I think about you. Drag off these people like sheep to be slaughtered; keep them apart for the time when they're killed.
Nanso wunim me, Awurade; wuhu me, na wosɔ mʼadwene a mewɔ wɔ wo ho no hwɛ. Twe wɔn kɔ sɛ nguan a wɔrekotwitwa wɔn mu! Yi wɔn si nkyɛn ma okumda!
4 How long will the land have to mourn and the grass in every field be dried up because of the evil of the people who live there? The animals and birds have died out because the people have said, “He doesn't know what's going to happen to us.”
Asase no nkyen nkosi da bɛn na prama so sare nguan nkosi da bɛn? Esiane sɛ wɔn a wɔte so no yɛ amumɔyɛfo nti mmoa ne nnomaa a wɔwɔ so awuwu. Na nnipa no da so ka se, “Ɔrenhu nea ɛba yɛn so.”
5 The Lord says, Once you've become worn out in a foot race against men, how would you win racing against horses? If you trip up in open ground, how would you do in the tangled undergrowth beside the Jordan?
“Sɛ wo ne mmarima atu mmirika ama woabrɛ a, ɛbɛyɛ dɛn na wo ne apɔnkɔ besi mmirikakan? Sɛ wuhintiw wɔ asase petee so a, ɛno de, dɛn na wobɛyɛ wɔ Yordan ho nkyɛkyerɛ mu?
6 Even your own brothers and your father's family have betrayed you; they have publicly criticized you. Don't trust them when they talk nicely to you!
Wo nuabarimanom, wʼankasa abusuafo, wɔn mpo ayi wo ama; wɔteɛ mu dennen tia wo. Mfa wo ho nto wɔn so, sɛ mpo wɔka wo ho asɛm pa a.
7 I have given up on my people; I have abandoned the nation I chose. I have handed over the ones I truly love to their enemies.
“Megyaw me fi, ato mʼagyapade asaworam; mede nea medɔ no no bɛhyɛ nʼatamfo nsa.
8 They've turned into a wild lion, roaring at me—that's why I hate them.
Mʼagyapade ayɛ me sɛ gyata a ɔwɔ kwae mu. Ɔbobɔ mu gu me so; ɛno nti metan no.
9 My people are like a spotted bird of prey to me with other birds of prey circling to attack it. Go and bring all the wild animals to eat up the carcass.
So mʼagyapade nyɛɛ me sɛ anomaa a nkekae sisi ne ho a ɔkyere mmoa na nnomaa foforo a wɔkyere mmoa atwa ne ho ahyia resosɔw no ana? Monkɔboaboa nkekaboa nyinaa ano. Momfa wɔn mmra na wonkum wɔn.
10 Many shepherds have come and destroyed my vineyard; they have trampled down the crops in my field. They have turned my pleasant land into an empty wasteland.
Nguanhwɛfo bebree bɛsɛe me bobeturo, na wɔatiatia me mfuw so; wɔbɛdan me mfuw fɛɛfɛ no ayɛ no asase hunu a ɛda mpan.
11 They have made it into a desert; it mourns before me, lying desolate. The whole country is a wasteland, but no one cares.
Ɛbɛyɛ asase a ada mpan a, awo wosee na ɛda hɔ kwa wɔ mʼanim; asase no nyinaa bɛda mpan efisɛ obiara nni hɔ a ɔhwɛ so.
12 The destructive armies have crossed all the bare desert hills for the Lord's sword destroys from one end of the country to the other. No one has any peace.
Nkoko wosee a ɛwɔ nweatam no nyinaa so no na asɛefo bɛba abegu bebree, Awurade afoa bekunkum wɔn afi asase ano de akosi ano nohɔ; obiara remfa ne ho nni.
13 My people sowed wheat but harvested thorns. They wore themselves out but gained no benefit. You should be ashamed of such a poor harvest, caused by the Lord's furious anger.
Wobedua atoko, nso wobetwa nsɔe; wɔbɛbrɛ wɔn ho nanso wɔrennya hwee. Wɔn ani bewu wɔ wɔn nnɔbaetwa ho. Awurade abufuwhyew nti.”
14 This is what the Lord says: When it comes these evil nearby nations who attack the country that I gave to my people Israel, I'm going to uproot them from their land. I'm also going to uproot the people of Judah from among them.
Nea Awurade se ni: “Na me yɔnkonom amumɔyɛfo a wɔfa agyapade a, mede maa me nkurɔfo Israelfo no de, metu wɔn afi wɔn nsase so na metu Yudafi afi wɔn mu.
15 However, once I have uprooted them, I will have mercy on them again, and bring each one back to their property and their land.
Na sɛ mitu wɔn wie a, mehu wɔn mmɔbɔ bio, na mede wɔn mu biara bɛba nʼagyapade, ne nʼasase so.
16 If they will honestly learn the ways of my people and respect me, making their vows to me, just as they once taught my people to swear by Baal, then they will do well among my people.
Na sɛ wosua me nkurɔfo akwan yiye na wɔbɔ me din ka ntam se, ‘Nokware sɛ Awurade te ase yi’ a, ɛwɔ mu sɛ mmere bi wɔkyerɛɛ me nkurɔfo ma wɔde Baal kaa ntam de, nanso wɔn ase betim wɔ me nkurɔfo mu.
17 But if they refuse to obey, then I will not only uproot that nation but I will completely destroy it, declares the Lord.
Nanso sɛ ɔman bi antie a, metu nʼase, na masɛe no korakora,” Awurade na ose.
