Lamentations 5
1 Remember, O YHWH, what has befallen us, Look attentively, and see our reproach.
Awurade, kae nea aba yɛn so; hwɛ, na hu yɛn animguase.
2 Our inheritance has been turned to strangers, Our houses to foreigners.
Wɔadan yɛn agyapade ama ahɔho, wɔde yɛn afi ama ananafo.
3 Orphans we have been—without a father, our mothers [are] as widows.
Yɛayɛ nyisaa na yenni agyanom, yɛn nanom yɛ akunafo.
4 We have drunk our water for money, Our wood comes for a price.
Ɛsɛ sɛ yɛtɔ nsu a yɛnom; yebenya nnyina a, gye sɛ yɛtɔ.
5 For our neck we have been pursued, We have labored—there has been no rest for us.
Wɔn a wɔtaa yɛn no abɛn yɛn pɛɛ; Yɛabrɛ na yennya ahomegye.
6 [To] Egypt we have given a hand, [To] Asshur, to be satisfied with bread.
Yɛde yɛn ho maa Misraim ne Asiria sɛnea yebenya aduan a ɛbɛso yɛn.
7 Our fathers have sinned—they are not, We have borne their iniquities.
Yɛn agyanom yɛɛ bɔne, na wonni hɔ bio, na yɛn na wɔn asotwe abɛda yɛn so.
8 Servants have ruled over us, There is no deliverer from their hand.
Nkoa di yɛn so, na obiara nni hɔ a obegye yɛn afi wɔn nsam.
9 With our lives we bring in our bread, Because of the sword of the wilderness.
Yɛde yɛn nkwa bɔ afɔre de pɛ yɛn anoduan, afoa a ɛwɔ sare so no nti.
10 Our skin as an oven has been burning, Because of the raging of the famine.
Yɛn honam adɔ sɛ fononoo. Ɔkɔm ama atiridii abɔ yɛn.
11 Wives in Zion they have humbled, Virgins—in cities of Judah.
Wɔato mmea mmonnaa wɔ Sion, ne mmabun a wɔwɔ Yuda nkurow so.
12 Princes have been hanged by their hand, Elderly faces have not been honored.
Wɔkyekyere mmapɔmma nsa na wɔasɛn wɔn; wɔmmfa nidi mma mpanyimfo.
13 They have taken young men to grind, And youths have stumbled with wood.
Mmerante yɛ adwumaden wɔ awiyammo so; na mmerantewa nan toto wɔ nnyina duruduru ase.
14 Elderly have ceased from the gate, Young men from their song.
Mpanyimfo ntena kuropɔn apon ano bio; mmerante agyae wɔn nnwonto.
15 The joy of our heart has ceased, Our dancing has been turned to mourning.
Ahosɛpɛw afi yɛn koma mu; yɛn asaw adan agyaadwotwa.
16 The crown has fallen [from] our head, Woe [is] now to us, for we have sinned.
Ahenkyɛw afi yɛn ti so. Yɛn ara, yennue sɛ yɛayɛ bɔne!
17 Our heart has been sick for this, Our eyes have been dim for these.
Eyi nti yɛn koma atɔ beraw, eyinom nti yɛn ani so ayɛ kusuu
18 For the Mount of Zion—that is desolate, Foxes have gone up on it.
wɔ Sion bepɔw a ada mpan na sakraman nenam so no nti.
19 You, O YHWH, remain for all time, Your throne to generation and generation.
Wo, Awurade, di hene afebɔɔ; wʼahengua fi awo ntoatoaso kosi awo ntoatoaso.
20 Why do You forget us forever? You forsake us for [the] length of [our] days!
Adɛn nti na wo werɛ fi yɛn daa yi? Adɛn nti na wagyaw yɛn, mmere tenten mu yi?
21 Turn us back, O YHWH, to You, And we turn back, renew our days as of old.
Ka yɛn bata wo ho bio, Awurade, na yɛatumi asan aba wo nkyɛn; yɛ yɛn nna foforo sɛ tete no
22 For have You utterly rejected us? You have been angry against us—exceedingly?
gye sɛ woapo yɛn koraa anaasɛ wo bo afuw yɛn mmoroso.
