Jeremiah 9
1 How I wish my head was a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears! Then I would weep day and night over all my people who have been killed.
Ao, sɛ me ti yɛ asuti, na mʼaniwa yɛ nusu abura a! Mɛtew nusu awia ne anadwo ama me nkurɔfo a wɔakunkum wɔn no.
2 I wish I had a temporary shelter in the desert—I would give up on my people and leave them, because they're all adulterers, a bunch of traitors!
Ao, sɛ mewɔ akwantufo asoɛe wɔ nweatam no so a anka megyaw me nkurɔfo hɔ na mafi wɔn nkyɛn; efisɛ wɔn nyinaa yɛ nguaman, nnipakuw a wonni nokware.
3 Their words are like arrows shot from a bow. Lies win out over the truth throughout the country. They go from one evil thing to the next, forgetting all about me, declares the Lord.
“Wosiesie wɔn tɛkrɛma te sɛ agyan de di atoro; Ɛnyɛ nokware so na wɔnam di yiye wɔ asase yi so. Wɔyɛ bɔne toatoa so; na wonnye me nto mu,” Awurade na ose.
4 Everyone, watch out for your friends! Don't even trust your brother! Every brother is deceitful, and every friend slanders other people.
“Monhwɛ yiye wɔ mo nnamfonom ho; munnye obiara nni wɔ mo abusua mu. Efisɛ wɔn mu biara yɛ ɔdaadaafo, na adamfo biara yɛ ɔsɛefo.
5 Everyone betrays their friends; no one tells the truth. They've made themselves into expert liars; they tire themselves out doing wrong.
Adamfo daadaa adamfo, na wɔn mu biara nka nokware. Wɔn tɛkrɛma akokwaw atorodi mu, wɔde bɔneyɛ haw wɔn ho.
6 Everyone exploits each other, and in all their lies they don't want to know me, declares the Lord.
Wote nnaadaa mfimfini; na wɔn nnaadaa mu wɔmpɛ sɛ wogye me to mu,” sɛnea Awurade se ni.
7 So this is what the Lord Almighty says: Look, I'm going to test them and purify them like metal in a furnace. What else can I do because of what my people have done?
Ɛno nti, sɛɛ na Asafo Awurade se, “Hwɛ, mɛnan wɔn asɔ wɔn ahwɛ, na dɛn bio na metumi ayɛ esiane me nkurɔfo yi bɔne nti?
8 Their words are arrows that kill; they always tell lies. They're nice to their friends on the outside while plotting against them inside.
Wɔn tɛkrɛma yɛ agyan a ano wɔ bɔre; ɛka nnaadaasɛm. Obiara kasa asomdwoe mu kyerɛ ne yɔnko, nanso ne koma mu de, osum no afiri.
9 Shouldn't I punish them for all this? declares the Lord. Shouldn't I retaliate for what this nation has done?
Ɛnsɛ sɛ metwe wɔn aso wɔ eyi ho?” Sɛɛ na Awurade se. “Ɛnsɛ sɛ mʼankasa metɔ ɔman a ɛte sɛɛ so were ana?
10 I will weep and wail for the mountains, I will sing a funeral song over the pastures in the countryside, because they have been so badly burned that no one can pass through, and there are no cattle to make any noise. The birds have flown and the wild animals have run away.
Mesu na metwa adwo ama mmepɔw no, mɛbɔ abubuw a ɛfa nweatam adidibea ho. Ayɛ fo na obi mfa hɔ bio, na wɔnte anantwi su wɔ hɔ. Wim nnomaa no atutu kɔ na mmoa no nso aguan kɔ.
11 I'm going to make Jerusalem into a heap of rubble, a place where jackals live. I will destroy the towns of Judah, leaving them empty.
“Mɛyɛ Yerusalem mmubui siw, sakraman atu; na mɛma Yuda nkurow ada mpan sɛnea obiara ntumi ntena hɔ.”
12 Who is wise enough to understand this? Has the Lord told anyone so they can explain what's happened? Why has the land been destroyed and burned so it's like a desert, so no one can pass through it?
Onipa bɛn na onim nyansa ara sɛ ɔbɛte eyi ase? Hena na Awurade akyerɛkyerɛ no a obetumi akyerɛ ase? Adɛn nti na wɔasɛe asase no ama ada mpan sɛ nweatam a obiara ntumi mfa so?
13 The Lord replied, It's because they have given up keeping my laws that I placed before them. They haven't followed them; they haven't done what I told them.
Awurade kae se, “Esiane sɛ wɔapo me mmara a mehyɛ maa wɔn no nti, wɔanyɛ osetie amma me na wɔanni me mmara so.
14 On the contrary, they have followed their own stubborn way of thinking, and went to worship the Baals, just as their forefathers taught them.
Mmom, wɔadi wɔn koma asoɔden akyi, wɔadi Baalnom akyi sɛnea wɔn agyanom kyerɛɛ wɔn no.”
15 So this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Watch out! I will give these people wormwood to eat and poisoned water to drink.
Ɛno nti, nea Asafo Awurade, Israel Nyankopɔn no se ni: “Hwɛ, mɛma saa nnipa yi adi aduan a ɛyɛ nwen na wɔanom nsu a wɔde awuduru afra.
16 I'm about to scatter them among nations unfamiliar to them and their forefathers, and I will send enemies with swords to chase after them until I have wiped them out.
Mɛbɔ wɔn ahwete amanaman a wɔn anaa wɔn agyanom nnim so no so, na mede afoa bɛtaa wɔn kosi sɛ mɛsɛe wɔn.”
17 This is what the Lord Almighty says: Be aware of what's happening! Call for the professional women mourners, ask for the best of them.
Sɛnea Awurade tumfo se ni: “Dwene ho! Frɛ mmea agyaadwotwafo no, frɛ wɔn a wɔakwadaw mu pa ara.
18 Have them come as quickly as possible, and sing a funeral song about us, so we can cry our eyes out, so our tears will flow like streams.
Ma wɔmmra ntɛm mmesu ngu yɛn so kosi sɛ yɛn ani so bɛtaa nusu na nusu aguare yɛn.
19 The sound of weeping comes from Zion, “We're completely devastated! We're totally ashamed, because we've had to abandon our country, because our houses have been demolished.”
Wɔte agyaadwotwa nnyigyei fi Sion se, ‘Wɔasɛe yɛn! Yɛn anim agu ase yiye! Ɛsɛ sɛ yetu fi yɛn asase so efisɛ yɛn afi abubu.’”
20 Women, listen to the Lord's message, hear what he has to say. Teach your daughters to mourn and sing songs of sadness.
Afei, mo mmea, muntie Awurade asɛm; monyɛ aso mma nsɛm a efi nʼanom. Monkyerɛ mo mmabea sɛnea wotwa dwo; monkyerɛ mo ho mo ho abubuwbɔ.
21 Death has slipped in through our windows; it has come into our fortresses. It has killed the children playing in the streets and the young people gathering in the town squares.
Owu aforo afa yɛn mfɛnsere mu ahyɛn yɛn aban mu; apam mmofra afi mmɔnten so ne mmerante afi ɔman aguabɔbea.
22 Tell everyone this is what the Lord says: Dead bodies will be left where they fall like manure in the fields, lying there like stalks of freshly-cut grain behind the reaper, with no one to collect them.
Ka se, “Sɛɛ Na Awurade se, “‘Nnipa afunu bɛdeda hɔ te sɛ sumina a egugu petee mu, te sɛ aburow a nnɔbaetwafo atwa agu nʼakyi a obiara mmoaboaa ano.’”
23 This is what the Lord says: The wise shouldn't boast about their wisdom. The strong shouldn't boast about their strength. The rich shouldn't boast about their riches.
Eyi ne nea Awurade se: “Mma onyansafo mfa ne nyansa nhyehyɛ ne ho anaa ɔhoɔdenfo mfa nʼahoɔden nhyehyɛ ne ho anaa ɔdefo mfa nʼahonya nhyehyɛ ne ho.
24 Anyone who wants to boast should boast that they really know and understand me, recognizing that I am the Lord who acts with trustworthy love, who shows fairness, and who does what is right everywhere on earth, because these mean the most to me, declares the Lord.
Mmom ma nea ɔhyehyɛ ne ho nhyehyɛ ne ho sɛ ɔwɔ nhumu, na onim sɛ, me ne Awurade a ɔyɛ adɔe, na obu atɛntrenee na ɔyɛ adetrenee wɔ asase so, efisɛ eyinom na ɛsɔ mʼani,” sɛnea Awurade se ni.
25 Watch out, for the time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will punish all who are only physically circumcised.
“Nna no reba,” Awurade na ose, “A mɛtwe wɔn a wɔatwa twetia wɔ honam fam nko ara no nyinaa aso:
26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab, and all the desert people who trim their hair on the sides of their heads—all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the Israelites are spiritually uncircumcised.
Misraimfo, Yudafo, Edomfo, Amonfo, Moabfo ne wɔn a wɔtete nweatam a ɛwɔ akyirikyiri nsase so nyinaa. Na nokware, saa aman yi nyinaa yɛ momonotofo na mpo Israelfi nyinaa yɛ koma mu momonotofo.”
