Ɔsɛnkafo 11
1 Fa wʼawi twa po; na daakye bi wubenya so mfaso.
Send forth your bread upon the face of the water: for you shall find it after many days.
2 Fa hyɛ aguadi ason mu, yiw, nea ɛto so awotwe mu, wunnim atoyerɛnkyɛm a ɛbɛba asase no so.
Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for you know not what evil there shall be upon the earth.
3 Sɛ nsu ayɛ omununkum mu ma a, ɛtɔ osu gu asase so. Sɛ dua bi bu hwe anafo fam anaa atifi fam a, nea ɛhwee no, ɛhɔ ara na ɛbɛda.
If the clouds be filled with rain, they pour [it] out upon the earth: and if a tree fall southward, or if it fall northward, in the place where the tree shall fall, there it shall be.
4 Obiara a ɔtwɛn wim nsakrae no rennua, na nea ɔhwɛ omununkum no nso rentwa.
He that observes the wind sows not; and he that looks at the clouds will not reap.
5 Sɛnea wunnim ɔkwan a mframa nam so, anaa sɛnea wɔnwen nipadua wɔ ɔyafunu mu no, saa ara na worentumi nte Onyankopɔn nnwuma ase, ade nyinaa Yɛfo no.
Among whom none knows what is the way of the wind: as the bones [are hid] in the womb of a pregnant [woman], so you shall not know the works of God, [even] all things whatever he shall do.
6 Dua wʼaba anɔpa, na anwummere nso ma wo nsa nna ho, na wunnim nea ɛbɛyɛ yiye, sɛ eyi anaa eyi, anaasɛ ebia abien no nyinaa bɛyɛ yie.
In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening let not your hand be slack: for you know not what sort shall prosper, whether this or that, or whether both shall be good alike.
7 Hann yɛ fɛ; na ɛyɛ aniwa dɛ sɛ ohu owia.
Moreover the light is sweet, and it is good for the eyes to see the sun.
8 Mfe dodow a onipa bɛtena nkwa yi mu nyinaa ɛsɛ sɛ onya ahotɔ. Nanso ɛsɛ sɛ ɔkae nnabɔne na ɛbɛdɔɔso. Biribiara a ɛbɛba no yɛ ahuhude.
For even if a man should live many years, [and] rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many. All that comes is vanity.
9 Ma wʼani nnye, aberante, bere a woyɛ ɔbabun, ma wo koma mma wo anigye wɔ wo mmerantebere mu. Di nea wo koma pɛ ne nea wʼaniwa hu akyi, nanso hu sɛ eyinom nyinaa ho Onyankopɔn de wo bɛba atemmu mu.
Rejoice, O young man, in your youth; and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth, and walk in the ways of your heart blameless, but not in the sight of your eyes: yet know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.
10 Enti yi adwennwen biara fi wo koma mu na tow ɔhaw biara a ɛwɔ wo mu no gu, efisɛ mmeranteyɛ ne ahoɔden yɛ ahuhude.
Therefore remove sorrow from your heart, and put away evil from your flesh: for youth and folly are vanity.
