Habakkuk 1

1 The prophecy which Habakkuk the prophet foresaw.

Yei ne asɛm a odiyifoɔ Habakuk nya firii Awurade nkyɛn wɔ anisoadehunu mu.

2 How long, O Lord, have I entreated [thee], and thou wouldst not hear? [how long] shall I cry out unto thee [because of] violence, and thou wilt not save?

Ao, Awurade, memfrɛ mmisa mmoa nkɔsi da bɛn, a nso wontie me? Meteam mefrɛ wo, akakabensɛm enti, nanso womma mmɛgye me.

3 Why wilt thou let me see wickedness, and wilt look on trouble, and the robbery and violence [that are] before me: while there is strife, and contention lifteth up [its head]?

Adɛn na woma mehwɛ ntɛnkyea? Adɛn enti na wotena bɔne ho? Ɔsɛeɛ ne akakabensɛm da mʼanim, basabasayɛ ne abɛbrɛsɛ atwa me ahyia.

4 Therefore is the law powerless, and justice cometh not forth victorious; for the wicked encompasseth about the righteous; therefore doth justice come forth perverted.

Enti, mmara nyɛ adwuma na atɛntenenee nni baabiara, atirimuɔdenfoɔ aka ateneneefoɔ ahyɛ, enti wɔkyea atemmuo.

5 Look ye about among the nations, and behold and be astonished and astounded; for [God] will fulfill a work in your days, ye would not believe it, if it were only told you.

“Momma ɛnyɛ mo nwanwa, na mo ho nnwiri mo! Merebɛyɛ biribi wɔ mo berɛ so, na sɛ obi ka kyerɛ mo a, morennye nni.

6 For, lo, I will raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and impetuous nation, that march to the wide spaces of the earth to conquer dwelling-places that are not theirs.

Mema Babiloniafoɔ asɔre, ɔman a wɔyɛ atirimuɔdenfoɔ ne ntɔkwapɛfoɔ; wɔbufa asase nyinaa so, na wɔfa tenabea a ɛnyɛ wɔn dea.

7 Terrible and dreadful are they: from themselves go forth their judicial laws and their dignity.

Wɔn ho yɛ hu na nnipa suro wɔn; wɔyɛ wɔn bo so adeɛ, de pɛ animuonyam ma wɔn ho.

8 And swifter than leopards are their horses, and fiercer than the evening wolves; and their horsemen spread themselves abroad: and their horsemen will come from afar; they will fly like the eagle hastening to eat.

Wɔn apɔnkɔ ho yɛ herɛ sene asebɔ, na wɔn ho yɛ hu sene pataku a ɔnam anadwo, wɔn apɔnkɔsotefoɔ kɔ wɔn anim mmarima so, wɔfiri akyirikyiri nsase so, na wɔto hoo sɛ akroma a ɔrekɔkye aboa.

9 They all will come for violence: the front of their faces is like the east wind, and they gather captives as the sand.

Wɔn nyinaa ba sɛ wɔrebɛyɛ basabasayɛ. Wɔn dɔm pem kɔ wɔn anim te sɛ anweatam so mframa, na wɔtase nneduafoɔ sɛ anwea.

10 And they will make sport with kings, and princes will be a play unto them: at every strong-hold will they laugh, and they will cast up earth-mounds and capture it.

Wɔmmmu ahene, wɔdi aman sodifoɔ ho fɛw, na wɔtwee nkuropɔn ho banbɔ denden. Wɔsisi dɔteɛ epie nam so kyekyere atamfoɔ.

11 Then doth their spirit become arrogant, and they are surpassingly proud, and offend, [imputing] this their power unto their god.

Wɔbɔ hoo te sɛ mframa kɔ wɔn anim. Afɔdifoɔ a wɔn ahoɔden yɛ wɔn nyame.”

12 Art thou not from everlasting, O Lord my God, my Holy One? we shall not die. O Lord, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O Protector, thou hast appointed them to correct [nations].

Ao, Awurade, wonni hɔ firi tete anaa? Me Onyankopɔn, me Kronkronni, wo a wote ase daa. Ao, Awurade, woapa wɔn sɛ wɔmmu atɛn; Ao Ɔbotantim, woahyɛ wɔn sɛ wɔntwe aso.

13 Thou, who art too pure of eyes to behold evil, and canst not look on trouble, wherefore wilt thou look upon those that deal treacherously, be silent when the wicked swalloweth up him that is more righteous than he?

Wʼaniwa yɛ kronkron, a wontumi nhwɛ nnebɔne; wonnyegye bɔne so. Na ɛdeɛn enti na wogyegye nnipa kɔntɔnkye so, na ɛdeɛn enti na wayɛ komm wɔ ɛberɛ a atirimuɔdenfoɔ remene ateneneefoɔ?

14 And [why] makest thou men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?

Woama nnipa ayɛ sɛ nsuomnam a ɛwɔ ɛpo mu, te sɛ abɔdeɛ a ɛwɔ ɛpo mu a wonni sodifoɔ.

15 All of them he bringeth up with the angle, he draggeth them up in his net, and gathereth them in his drag: therefore he rejoiceth and is glad.

Ɔtamfoɔ tirimuɔdenfoɔ no de darewa yi wɔn, ɔgu nʼasau de buma wɔn, na afei ɔsɛpɛ ne ho ma nʼani gye.

16 Therefore he sacrificeth unto his net, and burneth incense unto his drag; because through them is his portion fat, and his food marrowy.

Ne saa enti ɔbɔ afɔdeɛ ma nʼasau na wahye aduhwam ama no, ɛfiri sɛ asau yi so na ɔnam nya ateyie, na ɔdi nʼakɔnnɔ aduane.

17 Shall he therefore [always] empty his net, and continually slay nations without sparing?

Enti ɔnkɔ so nni nʼasau mu nam, na ɔmfa atirimuɔden nsɛe aman anaa?