Hiob 15
1 Na Temanni Elifas buae se,
Then Eliphaz replied to Job:
2 “Enti onyansafo de nsɛm a aba biara nni mu beyi nʼano anaasɛ ɔde apuei mframa a emu yɛ hyew bɛhyɛ nʼafuru ma?
“If you were truly wise [RHQ], you would not have replied to us by claiming that you know a lot; what you are saying is just a lot of hot air [MET].
3 Ɔde nsɛm huhuw begye akyinnye, aka nsɛm a mfaso biara nni so ana?
You should not [RHQ] be saying things that do not benefit anyone, using words that do no one any good.
4 Wototo onyamesuro ase mmom na wusiw Onyankopɔn som ho kwan.
[By what you say, ] you show that you do not revere God, and you are hindering people from meditating/thinking about God.
5 Wo bɔne kyerɛ wʼano nea ɔnka; na woafa anitew tɛkrɛma.
[It is as though] your sins are telling you what to say; you talk like people who will not admit that they are wicked.
6 Wʼankasa wʼano bu wo kumfɔ, ɛnyɛ me de; wʼankasa wʼano di adanse tia wo.
Everything that you say [MTY] shows that you should be punished; so, it is not necessary for me to show that.
7 “Wone onipa a wɔwoo wo dii kan ana? Wɔwoo wo ansa na wɔrewo nkoko ana?
[“Tell me do you know more than everyone else because you think that] you are the first person who was ever born? [SAR, RHQ] Were you born before the hills [were created]?
8 Wutie Onyankopɔn afotu ana? Wo nko ara na wunim nyansa ana?
Were you listening when God made all his plans? [SAR, RHQ] Or do you think that you are the only person who is wise?
9 Dɛn na wunim a, yennim? Nhumu bɛn na wowɔ a yenni?
(What do you know that we do not know?/You do not know anything that we do not know.) [RHQ] You do not understand [RHQ] anything that is not also clear to us.
10 Nea wafuw dwen ne akwakoraa wɔ yɛn afa wɔn a wɔanyinyin sen wʼagya mpo.
My friends and I are also wise; we acquired [wisdom] from old gray-haired people, from people who were born before your father was born.
11 Onyankopɔn awerɛkyekye ne nsɛm a wɔka no brɛoo kyerɛ wo no sua ma wo ana?
God wants to comfort you, and to speak gently/kindly to you; (is that not enough for you/do you need more than that)?
12 Adɛn nti na wo koma atwe wo akɔ adɛn nti na wʼani asɔ gya,
Why do you allow yourself to be (carried away/excited) by your emotions? Why are [you very angry, with the result that] your eyes flash?
13 na woadan wʼabufuw agu Onyankopɔn so na woma saa nsɛm yi pue fi wʼano?
You are angry [IDM] with God, and so you [MTY] are criticizing/denouncing him.
14 “Ɔdesani ne hena a obetumi ayɛ pɛ, anaasɛ nea ɔbea awo no bɛn na obetumi ayɛ ɔtreneeni?
“(How can any person, [including you, ] be sinless?/No person, [including you], can be sinless.) [RHQ] (How can anyone on the earth be [completely] righteous?/No one on the earth can be [completely] righteous.) [RHQ]
15 Onyankopɔn nni ahotoso wɔ nʼakronkronfo mu ɔsorosoro mpo nyɛ kronkron wɔ nʼani so,
Hey, God does not even trust his angels; he does not consider even them to be [completely] pure.
16 na me ne onipa debɔneyɛfo ne omumɔyɛfo a ɔnom bɔne sɛ nsu.
So, he certainly does not [trust] abominable/disgusting and depraved/corrupt people who do evil things [as easily] as they drink water [MET].
17 “Tie me, na mɛkyerɛ wo mu; ma menka nea mahu nkyerɛ wo,
Job, listen to what I will tell you. I will declare to you what I know,
18 nea anyansafo apae mu aka, a wɔamfa biribiara a wonya fii wɔn agyanom hɔ no ansie
things that wise men have told me, truths that their ancestors did not keep hidden.
19 (wɔn nko ara na wɔde asase no maa wɔn bere a ananafo biara nni wɔn mu):
God gave this land to those ancestors, who were truly wise; no one from another country caused them to think wrongly [IDM].
20 Omumɔyɛfo kɔ ahohia mu, ne nkwanna nyinaa, na basabasayɛni nso, ne mfe a wɔahyehyɛ ama no nyinaa.
It is wicked people who suffer with great pain all the time that they are alive; that is what happens to those who (oppress/act violently toward) others.
21 Nnyigyei a ɛyɛ hu hyɛ nʼasom ma; na sɛ ɛyɛ sɛ nneɛma rekɔ yiye ma no a, akorɔmfo tow hyɛ ne so.
They constantly hear sounds that terrify them; while they are prospering, bandits attack them.
22 Ɔpa abaw sɛ obeguan afi sum mu; wɔabɔ no ato hɔ ama afoa.
Wicked people surely know that they will not escape from darkness/death, because [they are sure that someone] is waiting to kill them with a sword.
23 Okyinkyin hwehwɛ aduan; onim sɛ sum da no abɛn.
They wander around, searching for food, saying ‘Where can I find some?’ And they know that they will soon experience disasters.
24 Ɔhaw ne ahoyeraw yi no hu; ɛhyɛ ne so sɛ ɔhene a wasiesie ne ho ama ɔko,
Because they are afraid of those things happening to them, they are afraid and worry that these things will come to them like [the army of] a king comes to attack [their enemies and cause them to suffer] [SIM].
25 efisɛ ɔteɛteɛ ne nsa kyerɛ Onyankopɔn na ɔma ne ho so tia Otumfo,
[Those things happen to them] because they (shook their fists/dared to fight) against Almighty God, and thought that they were strong enough to defeat him.
26 wɔde nkatabo a mu piw na ɛyɛ den kɔ ne so a, onsuro obiara.
They stubbornly [IDM] rush to attack God [as though they were carrying] a strong shield [to protect themselves].
27 “Ɛwɔ mu sɛ srade ama nʼafono atotɔ na nʼasen mu nam abubu agu so de,
They are so fat [that they are unable to fight].
28 nanso ɔbɛtena nkurow a agu so na watena afi a obi nte mu, afi a ɛrebubu mu.
They will live in cities that have been abandoned, cities which have become a heap of ruins.
29 Ɔrenkɔ so nyɛ ɔdefo bio, na nʼahonya rennyina, na nʼagyapade so bɛtew na ayera wɔ asase so.
But they will not remain rich very long; Everything that they own will be taken from them; their possessions will all disappear.
30 Ɔrenguan sum no; ogyaframa bɛhyew ne mman, na Onyankopɔn anom ahomegu bɛsoa no akɔ.
They will not escape from the darkness [of death]; they will be like trees whose branches are burned by fire and whose blossoms are blown away by the wind.
31 Ɛnsɛ sɛ ɔde ne ho to nneɛma huhuw so de daadaa ne ho, efisɛ ɔrennya hwee mfi mu.
Since they are very foolish, with the result that they trust in things that are really worthless, then things that are worthless will be all that they get.
32 Ansa na ne da bedu no, wobetua no ka a bi nka, na ne mman renyɛ frɔmfrɔm.
Before they are old, they will wither; they will be like [MET] branches that wither and never become green again.
33 Ɔbɛyɛ sɛ bobedua a wɔaporow so aba a ennyin ɛ, te sɛ ngodua a ne nhwiren reporow gu fam.
They will be like [SIM] vines whose grapes fall off before they are ripe, like olive trees whose blossoms fall off before they produce any fruit.
34 Na abɔnefo fekuw a wonnim Onyankopɔn no rensow aba, na ogya bɛhyew wɔn a wɔdɔ kɛtɛasehyɛ no ntamadan.
Wicked/godless people will not have any descendants, and fires will completely burn up the homes of [those who built those homes using] money they received from bribes.
35 Wonyinsɛn ɔhaw na wɔwo bɔne; wɔn awotwaa siesie nnaadaa.”
They plan to cause trouble and to do evil things, and they are always preparing to deceive people.”
