Ɔsɛnkafo 11
1 Fa wʼawi twa po; na daakye bi wubenya so mfaso.
Send forth your bread on the face of the waters, For in the multitude of the days you find it.
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 even to eight, For you do not know what evil is on 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 thick clouds are full of rain, On the earth they empty [themselves]; And if a tree falls in the south or to the north, The place where the tree falls, there it is.
4 Obiara a ɔtwɛn wim nsakrae no rennua, na nea ɔhwɛ omununkum no nso rentwa.
Whoever is observing the wind does not sow, And whoever is looking on the thick clouds does 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.
As you do not know what [is] the way of the spirit, How—bones in the womb of the full one, So you do not know the work of God who makes the whole.
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 at evening do not withdraw your hand, For you do not know which is right, this or that, Or whether both of them alike [are] good.
7 Hann yɛ fɛ; na ɛyɛ aniwa dɛ sɛ ohu owia.
Sweet also [is] the light, And 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.
But if man lives many years, In all of them let him rejoice, And remember the days of darkness, For they are many! All that is coming [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 childhood, And let your heart gladden you in days of your youth, And walk in the ways of your heart, And in the sight of your eyes, And know that for all these, God brings 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.
And turn aside anger from your heart, And cause evil to pass from your flesh, For the childhood and the age [are] vanity!
