Job 14
1 Life is short and full of trouble,
“Nnipa a ɔbea awo wɔn nna yɛ tiaa bi na ɔhaw ahyɛ mu mma.
2 like a flower that blooms and withers, like a passing shadow that soon disappears.
Ɔfefɛw te sɛ nhwiren na etwintwam; ɔte sɛ sunsuma a ɛretwa mu akɔ, ɔntena hɔ nkyɛ.
3 Do you even notice me, God, and why do you have to drag me to court?
Woma wʼani kɔ saa onipa yi so? Wode no bɛba wʼanim abebu no atɛn ana?
4 Who can bring something clean of what is unclean? No one.
Hena na obetumi ayi nea ɛyɛ kronkron afi fi mu? Obiara nni hɔ.
5 You have determined how long we shall live—the number of months, a time limit on our lives.
Woahyehyɛ onipa nkwa nna; woahyɛ nʼasram dodow ato hɔ na woahyɛ no bere a ɔrentumi ntra.
6 So leave us alone and give us some peace—so like a laborer we could enjoy a few hours of rest at the end of the day.
Enti yi wʼani fi ne so na ɔnyɛ nea ɔpɛ, kosi sɛ obewie nʼadwuma sɛ ɔpaani.
7 Even a tree that's cut down has the hope of sprouting again, of sending up shoots and continuing to live.
“Dua mpo anidaso wɔ hɔ ma no: Sɛ wotwa a, ɛbɛfefɛw bio, na ne mman foforo no rempenpan.
8 Even though its roots grow old in the earth, and its stump dies in the ground,
Ne ntin betumi anyin akyɛ asase mu na ne dunsin nso awu wɔ dɔte mu,
9 just a trickle of water will make it bud and grow branches like a young plant.
nanso, onya nsu a ɛfefɛw, na eyiyi mman sɛ dua a wɔatɛw.
10 But human beings die, their strength dwindles away; they perish, and where are they then?
Nanso sɛ nnipa wu a wɔde no hyɛ fam; ɔhome nea etwa to a, na afei onni hɔ bio.
11 Like water evaporating from a lake and a river that dries up and disappears,
Sɛnea nsu tu yera wɔ po mu no, anaa sɛnea suka mu yowee no,
12 so human beings lie down and don't get up again. Until the heavens cease to exist they will not awake from their sleep.
saa ara na onipa tɔ fam na ɔnsɔre bio; enkosi sɛ ɔsoro betwa mu no, nnipa rensɔre na wɔrennyan wɔn mfi wɔn nna mu.
13 I wish you would hide me in Sheol; conceal me there until your anger is gone. Set a definite time for me there, and remember me! (Sheol h7585)
“Sɛ anka wode me besie ɔda mu de me ahintaw kosi sɛ wʼabufuw betwa mu! Sɛ anka wobɛhyɛ me bere na afei woakae me! (Sheol h7585)
14 Will the dead live again? Then I would have hope through all my time of trouble until my release comes.
Sɛ onipa wu a ɔbɛba nkwa mu bio ana? Mʼaperedi nna mu nyinaa mɛtwɛn akosi sɛ me foforoyɛ bɛba.
15 You would call and I would answer you; you would long for me, the being that you made.
Wobɛfrɛ na megye wo so; wʼani begyina abɔde a wo nsa ayɛ.
16 Then you would look after me and wouldn't be watching me to see if I sinned.
Afei wobɛkan mʼanammɔntu na worenni me bɔne akyi.
17 My sins would be sealed up in a bag and you would cover my guilt.
Wɔbɛsɔ me bɔne ano wɔ kotoku mu, na woakata mʼamumɔyɛ so.
18 But just as the mountains crumble and fall, and the rocks tumble down;
“Nanso sɛnea mmepɔw so hohoro na ɛpompono na ɔbotan nso twe fi ne sibea no,
19 as water wears away the stones, as floods wash away the soil, so you destroy the hope people have.
sɛnea nsu yiyi abo ho na osuhweam twe dɔte kɔ no saa ara na wosɛe onipa anidaso.
20 You continually overpower them and they pass away; you distort their faces in death and send them away.
Wutintim ne so prɛko pɛ, na otwa mu kɔ; wosakra ne nipasu na wugya no kwan.
21 Their children may become important or fall from their positions, but they don't know or see any of this.
Sɛ wɔhyɛ ne mmabarima anuonyam a, onnim; na sɛ wɔbrɛ wɔn ase a, onhu.
22 As people die they only know their own pain and are sad for themselves.”
Ɔno ara were mu yaw na ɔtee na ɔno ara ne ho na ogyam.”
