Nnwom 74
1 Asaf dwom. Ao, Onyankopɔn, adɛn nti na woapo yɛn koraa yi? Adɛn nti na wʼabufuw hyew wʼadidibea nguan?
A maskil of Asaph. Why, O God, have you spurned us forever? Why smokes your wrath against the sheep of your pasture?
2 Kae nkurɔfo a wotɔɔ wɔn teteete no, abusua a ɛyɛ wʼagyapade a wugyee wɔn no, Bepɔw Sion, faako a wote hɔ.
Remember the community you purchased of old to become by redemption the tribe of your heritage, Zion, the mountain you made your home.
3 Dan wʼanammɔntu kyerɛ saa nnwiriwii a ɛto ntwa da yi, ɔtamfo no de saa ɔsɛe yi nyinaa aba wo kronkronbea no so.
Rouse yourself, visit its ruins complete. In the temple the foe has made havoc of all things.
4 Wʼatamfo bobɔɔ mu wɔ faako a wuhyiaa yɛn no; wɔasisi wɔn mfrankaa sɛ agyiraehyɛde wɔ hɔ.
Like lions your enemies roared through your house, replacing our symbols by signs of their own,
5 Wɔyɛɛ wɔn sɛ nnipa a wɔrehwim mmonnua de abubu nnua a ayɛ nkyɛkyerɛ.
hacking, like woodsmen who lift axes on thickets of trees,
6 Wɔde wɔn mmonnua ne nname bubuu nnua a wɔasen adi ho adwinni no.
smashing with hatchets and hammers all of its carved work together.
7 Wɔhyew wo kronkronbea no dwerɛbee; woguu faako a wo Din te no ho fi.
They have set your temple on fire, to the very ground they have outraged the place where lives your name.
8 Wɔkaa wɔ wɔn koma mu se, “Yebetiatia wɔn so ayɛ wɔn pasaa!” Wɔhyew baabiara a wɔsom Onyankopɔn wɔ asase no so.
They have said in their heart, ‘Let us utterly crush them.’ They have burned all the houses of God in the land.
9 Wɔmmaa yɛn nsɛnkyerɛnne a ɛyɛ nwonwa biara; adiyifo no asa, na yɛn mu biara nnim nna dodow a ebedi.
No symbol of ours do we see any more: no prophet is there any more, none is with us who knows how long.
10 Onyankopɔn, wʼatamfo bɛserew wo akosi da bɛn? Wɔn a wokyi wo no begu wo din ho fi daa ana?
How long, O God, is the foe to insult? Shall the enemy spurn your name forever?
11 Adɛn nti na woatwe wo nsa, wo nsa nifa no? Yi fi wʼatade mmobɔwee no mu na sɛe wɔn.
Why, O Lord, do you hold back your hand, why keep your right hand in the folds of your robe?
12 Nanso Onyankopɔn yɛ me hene fi tete; wode nkwagye ba asase so.
Yet God is our king from the ancient days, in the midst of the earth working deeds of salvation.
13 Ɛyɛ wo na wode wo tumi paee po mu no; wopɛtɛw nsu mu ɔwɔ no ti.
It was you who did cleave the sea by your might, and shatter the heads of the ocean monsters.
14 Wopɛtɛw Lewiatan no ti na wode no maa sare so abɔde sɛ wɔn aduan.
It was you who did crush many-headed Leviathan, and give him as food to the beasts of the wilderness.
15 Wo na womaa nsuwa ne nsuti tuei; na womaa nsubɔnten a ɛsen yoyowee.
It was you who did cleave the fountains and torrents; it was you who did dry the perennial streams.
16 Adekyee wɔ wo na adesae nso yɛ wo dea; wode owia ne ɔsram sisii hɔ.
Yours is the day; yours, too, is the night, it was you who did establish the sun and the star.
17 Ɛyɛ wo na wototoo asase so ahye nyinaa; wobɔɔ ahohuru ne awɔw mmere.
It was you who did fix all the borders of earth: summer and winter it’s you who have made them.
18 Awurade, kae sɛnea ɔtamfo no aserew wo, sɛnea nkwaseafo agu wo din ho fi.
Yet, for all this, the foe has insulted you, Lord, and a nation of fools has reviled your name.
19 Mmfa wʼaborɔnoma nkwa mma nkekaboa; mma wo werɛ mfi wo nkurɔfo a wɔrehu amane no nkwa afebɔɔ.
Do not give your dove to the beasts, do not forget your afflicted forever.
20 Ma wʼapam no ho nhia wo, efisɛ akakabensɛm ahyɛ asase no so sum mu ma.
Look to the sleek ones – how full they are: the dark places of earth are the dwellings of violence.
21 Mma wɔn a wɔhyɛ wɔn so no mmfa animguase nsan; ma ahiafo ne mmɔborɔfo nkamfo wo din.
O let not the downtrodden turn back ashamed: let the poor and the needy sing praise to your name.
22 Ao, Onyankopɔn, ma wo ho so na ka wo ara wʼasɛm; kae sɛnea nkwaseafo serew wo da mu nyinaa.
Arise, God, and defend your cause: remember how fools all the day insult you.
23 Mmu wʼani ngu wɔn a wɔsɔre tia wo no nteɛteɛmu so, wʼatamfo gyegyeegyeyɛ a ɛkɔ soro daa no. Wɔde ma dwonkyerɛfo no. Wɔnto no sɛnea wɔto “Nsɛe No” nne so.
Do not forget the uproar of your enemies, the din of your foes that ascends evermore.
