Ɔsɛnkafoɔ 6
1 Mahunu bɔne foforɔ bi wɔ owia yi ase a ɛhyɛ nnipa so yie:
There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is heavy upon men:
2 Onyankopɔn ma onipa ahonyadeɛ, adenya ne animuonyam sɛdeɛ biribiara a nʼakoma pɛ no ɛmmɔ no, nanso Onyankopɔn amma no kwan sɛ ɔmfa nnye nʼani, na ɔhɔhoɔ mmom na ɔde gye nʼani. Yei yɛ ahuhudeɛ, ɔhaw a ɛyɛ yea.
A man to whom God gives riches, wealth, and honor, so that he lacks nothing for his soul of all that he desires, yet God does not give him power to eat of it, but an alien eats it. This is vanity, and it is an evil disease.
3 Onipa bɛtumi anya mma ɔha na wanyini akyɛre; nanso ne mfeɛ dodoɔ yi akyi no, nʼahonya no amma nʼani annye, na ne sie nso anyɛ fɛ a, ɔpɔn ba ho wɔ mfasoɔ sene no.
If a man begets a hundred sons, and lives many years so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not filled with good, and moreover he has no burial, I say, that an untimely birth is better than he.
4 Ne ba no yɛ adehunu, esum mu na ɔkorɔ, na esum akata ne din so.
For it comes in vanity, and departs in darkness, and the name of it is covered with darkness.
5 Ɛwom sɛ wanhunu owia na ɔnnim hwee deɛ, nanso ɔbɛnya ahomegyeɛ bebree sene deɛ saa ɔbarima no bɛnya.
Moreover it has not seen the sun nor known it, this one has rest rather than the other.
6 Mpo sɛ ɔtena ase mfeɛ apem mmɔho na wammfa nʼahonyadeɛ annye nʼani a, wɔn nyinaa nkɔ faako anaa?
Yea, though he lives a thousand years twice told, and yet enjoys no good, do not all go to one place?
7 Onipa brɛ nyinaa yɛ nʼano ntia, nanso nʼakɔnnɔdeɛ mmee no da.
All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.
8 Na ɛdeɛn na onyansafoɔ wɔ de sene ɔkwasea? Sɛ ohiani yɛ nʼakwan yie wɔ afoforɔ anim a mfasoɔ bɛn na ɔbɛnya?
For what advantage has the wise man more than the fool? What has the poor man, who knows how to walk before the living?
9 Deɛ aniwa hunu no yɛ sene deɛ akɔnnɔ kyini hwehwɛ. Yei nso yɛ ahuhudeɛ. Ɛte sɛ wotaa mframa.
Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.
10 Deɛ ɛwɔ hɔ biara, wɔato edin dada, na sɛdeɛ onipa teɛ nso, wɔnim dada; onipa biara rentumi ne deɛ ɔwɔ ahoɔden sene noɔ nnye yei ho akyinnyeɛ.
Whatever has been, the name of it was given long ago, and it is know what man is. Neither can he contend with him who is mightier than he.
11 Nsɛm dɔɔso a, emu aba yɛ kakraa bi, na ɛho wɔ mfasoɔ ma onipa anaa?
Since there are many things that increase vanity, what is man the better?
12 Na hwan na ɔnim deɛ ɛyɛ ma onipa wɔ ne nkwanna kakra bi a ɛyɛ ahuhudeɛ na ɔfa mu kɔ sɛ sunsumma no? Hwan na ɔbɛtumi aka deɛ ɛbɛsi wɔ owia yi ase akyerɛ no ɛberɛ a ɔkorɔ no.
For who knows what is good for man in life, all the days of his vain life which he spends as a shadow? For who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?
