Habakuk 1
1 Eyi ne asɛm a odiyifo Habakuk nya fii Awurade nkyɛn wɔ anisoadehu mu.
THE BURDEN which Habakkuk the prophet did see.
2 Awurade, enkosi da bɛn na memfrɛ nsrɛ mmoa, nanso wuntie me? Meteɛ mu frɛ, “Akakabensɛm!” nanso womma mmegye me.
How long, O LORD, shall I cry, and Thou wilt not hear? I cry out unto Thee of violence, and Thou wilt not save.
3 Adɛn na woma mehwɛ ntɛnkyew? Adɛn nti na wotena bɔne ho? Ɔsɛe ne akakabensɛm da mʼanim, basabasayɛ ne abɛbrɛsɛ atwa me ho ahyia.
Why dost Thou show me iniquity, and beholdest mischief? And why are spoiling and violence before me? so that there is strife, and contention ariseth.
4 Enti mmara nyɛ adwuma na atɛntrenee nni baabiara, atirimɔdenfo aka atreneefo ahyɛ, enti wɔkyea atemmu.
Therefore the law is slacked, and right doth never go forth; for the wicked doth beset the righteous; therefore right goeth forth perverted.
5 “Hwɛ aman no, na wo ho bedwiriw wo! Merebɛyɛ biribi wɔ wo bere so, na sɛ wɔka kyerɛ wo a, worennye nni.
Look ye among the nations, and behold, and wonder marvellously; for, behold, a work shall be wrought in your days, which ye will not believe though it be told you.
6 Merema Babiloniafo asɔre, ɔman a wɔyɛ atirimɔdenfo ne ntɔkwapɛfo; wobu fa asase nyinaa so, na wɔfa tenabea a ɛnyɛ wɔn de.
For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and impetuous nation, that march through the breadth of the earth, to possess dwelling-places that are not theirs.
7 Wɔn ho yɛ hu na nnipa suro wɔn; wɔyɛ wɔn koko so ade, de pɛ anuonyam ma wɔn ho.
They are terrible and dreadful; their law and their majesty proceed from themselves.
8 Wɔn apɔnkɔ ho yɛ hare sen asebɔ, na wɔn ho yɛ hu sen pataku a ɔnam anadwo, wɔn apɔnkɔsotefo kɔ wɔn anim mmarima so, wofi akyirikyiri nsase so, na wɔbɔ hoo sɛ akorɔma a ɔrekɔkyere aboa.
Their horses also are swifter than leopards, and are more fierce than the wolves of the desert; and their horsemen spread themselves; yea, their horsemen come from far, they fly as a vulture that hasteth to devour.
9 Wɔn nyinaa ba sɛ wɔrebɛyɛ basabasayɛ. Wɔn dɔm pem kɔ wɔn anim te sɛ nweatam so mframa, na wɔtase nneduafo sɛ nwea.
They come all of them for violence; their faces are set eagerly as the east wind; and they gather captives as the sand.
10 Wodi ahene ho fɛw, wɔka aman sodifo anim, na wɔtwee nkuropɔn a ɛwɔ bammɔ dennen. Wosisi dɔte mpie nam so kyekyere atamfo.
And they scoff at kings, and princes are a derision unto them; they deride every stronghold, for they heap up earth, and take it.
11 Wɔbɔ hoo te sɛ mframa kɔ wɔn anim. Afɔdifo a wɔn ahoɔden yɛ wɔn nyame.”
Then their spirit doth pass over and transgress, and they become guilty: even they who impute their might unto their god.
12 Awurade, wunni hɔ fi tete ana? Me Nyankopɔn, me Kronkronni, wo a wote ase daa. Wo, Awurade, woapaw wɔn sɛ wommu atɛn; wo, me Botantim, woahyɛ wɔn sɛ wɔntwe aso.
Art not Thou from everlasting, O LORD my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. O LORD, Thou hast ordained them for judgment, and Thou, O Rock, hast established them for correction.
13 Wʼaniwa yɛ kronkron a wuntumi nhwɛ nnebɔne; wunnyigye nnebɔne so. Na adɛn nti na wugyigye nnipa akɔntɔnkye so, na dɛn nti na wayɛ komm wɔ bere a atirimɔdenfo rememene atreneefo?
Thou that art of eyes too pure to behold evil, and that canst not look on mischief, wherefore lookest Thou, when they deal treacherously, and holdest Thy peace, when the wicked swalloweth up the man that is more righteous than he;
14 Woama nnipa ayɛ sɛ nsumnam a ɛwɔ po mu, te sɛ abɔde a ɛwɔ po mu a wonni sodifo.
And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?
15 Ɔtamfo tirimɔdenfo no de darewa yi wɔn, ogu nʼasau de buma wɔn, na afei ɔsɛpɛw ne ho ma nʼani gye.
They take up all of them with the angle, they catch them in their net, and gather them in their drag; therefore they rejoice and exult.
16 Ne saa nti ɔbɔ afɔre ma nʼasau na wahyew aduhuam ama no, efisɛ asau yi so na ɔnam nya yiyedi, na odi nʼakɔnnɔ aduan.
Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and offer unto their drag; because by them their portion is fat, and their food plenteous.
17 Enti ɔnkɔ so nni nʼasau mu nam, na ɔmfa atirimɔden nsɛe aman ana?
Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare to slay the nations continually?
