< Jeremias 6 >

1 Strengthen yourselves, you children of Benjamin, [to flee] out of the midst of Jerusalem, and sound an alarm with the trumpet in Thecue, and set up a signal over Baethacharma: for evil threatens from the north, and a great destruction is coming.
“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 And [your] pride, O daughter of Sion, shall be taken away.
Mɛsɛe Ɔbabea Sion, ɔhoɔfɛfo sɔɔnɔ no.
3 The shepherds and their flocks shall come to her; and they shall pitch [their] tents against her round about, and shall feed [their flocks] each with 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 yourselves for war against her; rise up, and let us go up against her at noon. Woe to us! for the day has gone down, for the shadows of the day fail.
“Munsiesie mo ho ne no nkɔko! Monsɔre, momma yɛnkɔtow nhyɛ ne so owigyinae! Nanso hwɛ, onwini redwo, na anwummere sunsuma reware.
5 Rise, and let us go up against her by night, and destroy her foundations.
Enti monsɔre, momma yɛnkɔtow nhyɛ ne so anadwo na yɛnsɛe nʼaban ahorow!”
6 For thus says the Lord, Hew down her trees, array a numerous force against Jerusalem. O false city; [there is] all oppression in 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 cools water, so her wickedness cools her, ungodliness and misery shall be heard in her, [as] continually before her.
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 You shall be chastened, O Jerusalem, with pain and the scourge, lest my soul depart from you; lest I make you a desert land, which shall not be inhabited.
Fa kɔkɔbɔ, Yerusalem, anyɛ saa metwe me ho afi wo ho na mama wʼasase ada mpan a obiara ntumi ntena so.”
9 For thus says the Lord, Glean, glean thoroughly as a vine the remnant of Israel: turn back [your hands] as a grape-gatherer to his 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 testify, that he may listen? behold, your ears are uncircumcised, and they shall not be able to hear: behold, the word of the Lord is become to them a reproach, they will not at all desire 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 And I allowed my wrath to come to full, yet I kept [it] in, and did not utterly destroy them: I will pour it out on the children without, and on the assembly of young men together: for man and woman shall be taken together, the old man with him 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 to others, [with] their fields and their wives together: for I will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of this land, says 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 they have all committed iniquity; from the priest even to the false prophet they have all wrought falsely.
“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 my people [imperfectly], making light [of it], and saying, Peace, peace, and where is peace?
Wɔtoto me nkurɔfo apirakuru te sɛnea ɛnyɛ hu. Wɔka se, ‘Asomdwoe, asomdwoe’ wɔ mmere a asomdwoe nni hɔ.
15 They were ashamed because they failed; yet they were not ashamed as those who are [truly] ashamed, and they knew not their own disgrace: therefore shall they [utterly] fall when they do fall, and in the time of visitation shall they perish, said 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 says the Lord, Stand you in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths of the Lord; and see what is the good way, and walk in it, and you shall find purification for your souls. But they said, We will not walk [in them].
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 I have set watchmen over you, [saying], Hear you the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hear [it].
Mede awɛmfo sisii mo so na mekae se, ‘Muntie torobɛnto nnyigyei no!’ Nanso mokae se, ‘Yɛrentie.’
18 Therefore have the nations heard, and they that feed their flocks.
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, [even] the fruit of their rebellions; for they have not heeded my words, and they have rejected 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 Therefore do you bring me frankincense from Saba, and cinnamon from a land afar off? your whole burnt offerings are not acceptable, and your sacrifices have not been pleasant 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 says the Lord, Behold, I [will] bring weakness upon this people, and the fathers and sons shall be weak together; the neighbor and his friend 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 says the Lord, Behold, a people comes from the north, and nations shall be stirred up from the end 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 bow and spear; [the people] is fierce, and will have no mercy; their voice is as the roaring sea; they shall array themselves for war against you as fire on horses and chariots, 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 report of them: our hands are weakened: anguish has seized us, the pangs as of a woman in travail.
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 forth into the field, and walk not in the ways; for the sword of the enemy lingers round about.
Mfi adi nkɔ wuram na nnantew akwan no so, efisɛ ɔtamfo no wɔ afoa, na baabiara ayɛ hu.
26 O daughter of my people, gird yourself with sackcloth: sprinkle [yourself] with ashes; make for yourself pitiable lamentation, [as] the mourning for a beloved [son]: for misery will come suddenly upon you.
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 caused you to be tried among tried nations, and you shall know me when I have tried their way.
“Mayɛ wo obi a ɔsɔ agude hwɛ na me nkurɔfo dadeben, a wobɛhwɛ na woasɔ wɔn akwan ahwɛ.
28 [They are] all disobedient, walking perversely: [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 from the fire, the lead has failed: the silversmith works at his trade in vain; their wickedness is 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 you them reprobate silver, because the Lord has rejected them.
Wɔfrɛ wɔn dwetɛ a wɔapo, efisɛ Awurade apo wɔn.”

< Jeremias 6 >