Hiob 21
1 Na Hiob buae se,
Then Job replied,
2 Muntie me nsɛm no yiye. Momma eyi nyɛ awerɛkyekye a mode ma me.
“Listen to what I say, all [three] of you; that is the only thing that you can do that will comfort me.
3 Munnya ntoboase mma me bere a merekasa, na sɛ mekasa wie a, monkɔ so nni fɛw.
Be patient with me, and allow me to speak. Then, after I am finished speaking, you can continue to make fun of me.
4 “Minwiinwii hyɛ onipa ana? Adɛn nti na ɛsɛ sɛ minya ntoboase?
“It is certainly not [RHQ] people against whom I am complaining, [but God] And it is certainly [RHQ] right for me to be impatient!
5 Monhwɛ me, na mo ho nnwiriw mo; momfa mo nsa nkata mo ano.
Look at me! Does what you see not cause you to be appalled and to put your hands over your mouths [and say no more]?
6 Sɛ midwen eyi ho a, mebɔ hu; na me ho popo.
When I think about [what has happened to me], I am frightened and my entire body shakes.
7 Adɛn nti na amumɔyɛfo tena nkwa mu? Wonyin kyɛ na wɔkɔ so di tumi.
“[But let me ask this: ] ‘Why do wicked people continue to live, and become prosperous, and not die until they are very old?’
8 Wohu wɔn mma a atwa wɔn ho ahyia no nkɔso, wohu wɔn nenanom.
They have their children around them, and they watch them while they [grow up and] start to live in their own houses, and they enjoy their grandchildren.
9 Ɔhaw nni wɔn afi mu, na ehu nni hɔ; Onyankopɔn asotwe mma wɔn so.
Wicked people live in their own houses without being afraid, and God does not punish [MTY] them.
10 Wɔn anantwinini nnyɛ asaadwe; na wɔn anantwibere nwo a wɔmpɔn.
Their bulls always mate with the cows successfully, and the cows give birth to calves and never miscarry.
11 Wɔka wɔn mma bɔ mu te sɛ nguankuw; na emu mmotafowa no huruhuruw.
Wicked people send their young children outside [to play], and the children play [happily] like [SIM] lambs [in a pasture].
12 Wɔto nnwom wɔ akasae ne sanku so; na wɔde atɛntɛbɛn nnyigyei gye wɔn ani.
Some children dance and sing, while others shake tambourines and play lyres, and they are happy when they hear people playing flutes.
Wicked people enjoy having good things all the time that they are alive, and they die quietly/peacefully and go down to the place of the dead. (Sheol h7585)
14 Nanso wɔka kyerɛ Onyankopɔn se, ‘Fi yɛn so! Yɛmpɛ sɛ yehu wʼakwan.
While they are alive, they say to God, ‘Do not bother us; we do not want to know how you want us to conduct our lives!
15 Hena ne otumfo no a ɛsɛ sɛ yɛsom no? Sɛ yɛbɔ no mpae a mfaso bɛn na yebenya?’
Why do you, Almighty God, think that we should serve you? (What advantage do we get if we pray to you?/It is useless for us to pray to you.) [RHQ]’
16 Nanso wɔn nkɔso no nni wɔn nsam, enti metwe me ho fi amumɔyɛfo afotu ho.
Think about it: Wicked people think that it is because of what they have done that they have become prosperous, but I do not understand why they think like that.
17 “Nanso mpɛn ahe na wodum amumɔyɛfo kanea? Mpɛn ahe na amanehunu ba wɔn so, nea Onyankopɔn fi nʼabufuw mu de ba no?
(“How often does it happen that wicked people die [MET] before they are old?/Very seldom do wicked people die [MET] before they are old.) [RHQ] (Do they ever experience disasters?/They seldom experience disasters.) [RHQ] (Does God ever punish them because of being very angry with them?/God never punishes them because of being very angry with them.) [RHQ]
18 Mpɛn ahe na wɔyɛ sɛ sare wɔ mframa ano, te sɛ ntɛtɛ a mframaden bi apra wɔn?
[He does not blow] them away like wind blows away straw; they are never carried off by a whirlwind.
19 Wɔka se, ‘Onyankopɔn kora onipa asotwe so de twɛn ne mma.’ Ɛsɛ sɛ ɔtwe onipa no ankasa aso ma ohu.
You say, ‘When people have committed sins, God waits and punishes their children because of those sins;’ but [I say that] God should punish those who sin, [not their children, ] in order that the sinners will know [that it is because of their own sins that they are being punished].
20 Ma ɔno ankasa ani nhu ne sɛe; ma Otumfo abufuwhyew no nka nʼani.
I hope/wish that wicked people will experience themselves being destroyed, that they will experience being punished by an angry Almighty God.
21 Dɛn na ɛfa wɔn ho fa wɔn abusuafo a woagyaw wɔn akyi no ho bere a asram a wɔatwa ama no aba awiei no?
After wicked people are dead, they are not at all concerned [RHQ] about what happens to their families [MTY].
22 “Obi betumi akyerɛ Onyankopɔn nyansa, wɔ bere a obu atitiriw mpo atɛn?
“Since God judges [everyone, ] even those that are in heaven, (who can teach God anything?/certainly no one can teach God anything.) [RHQ]
23 Obi wu wɔ bere a ɔwɔ ahoɔden ne ho tɔ no na nʼaso mu adwo no,
Some people die while they are very healthy, while they are peaceful, when they are not afraid of anything.
24 na ne nipadua ayɛ frɔmfrɔm, na hon ahyɛ ne nnompe ma.
Their bodies are fat; their bones are strong.
25 Ɔfoforo nso de ɔkra mu yawdi wu, a wanka asetena pa anhwɛ da.
Other people die being very miserable; they have never experienced good things happening to them.
26 Wosie wɔn nyinaa wɔ mfutuma koro mu, ma asunson nnunu wɔn nyinaa.
But both rich and poor people die and are buried, and maggots eat their bodies. [Everyone dies, so it is clear that dying is not always the punishment for being wicked].
27 “Mahu mo adwene, ɔkwan a mobɛfa so afom me.
“Listen, I know what you [three] are thinking. I know the evil things that you plan to do to me.
28 Moka se, ‘Onipa kɛse no fi wɔ he, ntamadan a omumɔyɛfo no tenaa mu no?’
You say, ‘What happened to the tents in which wicked people were living? The houses of evil rulers have been destroyed!’
29 So mummmisaa wɔn a wotu kwan no asɛm da? Wɔn amanneɛbɔ mu nsɛm ho nhiaa mo
But have you never inquired of people who travel much? Do you not believe their reports about what they have seen,
30 sɛ onipa bɔne nya ne ti didi mu amanehunu da, na wogye wɔn abufuwhyew da no ana?
that wicked people usually do not suffer at the time when there are great disasters; that wicked people are the ones who are rescued when God is angry [and punishes people] [MTY]?
31 Hena na ɔde ne suban si nʼanim? Hena na otua no nea wayɛ so ka?
There is no one [RHQ] who accuses wicked people, and there is no one who (pays them back/gives them the punishment that they deserve) for all the evil things that they have done.
32 Wɔsoa no kɔ ɔda mu, na wɔwɛn nʼaboda.
The corpses of wicked people are carried to their graves, and people are put there to guard those graves.
33 Obon mu dɔte yɛ no dɛ; nnipa nyinaa di nʼakyi, na dɔm a wontumi nkan wɔn di nʼanim.
A huge number [HYP] of people go to the grave site. Some go in front of the procession and some come behind. And the clods of dirt thrown on the graves of those wicked people who have died are like a nice blanket.
34 “Enti ɛbɛyɛ dɛn na mode mo nsɛnhunu bɛkyekye me werɛ? Mo mmuae nyɛ hwee sɛ atoro!”
“So how can you console me by talking nonsense? Every reply that you make is full of lies!”
