Hesekiel 4

1 “Na afei, onipa ba, fa ntayaa bi to wʼanim na kurukyire Yerusalem kuropɔn mfoni wɔ so.

“And as for you, son of man, take up for yourself a tablet, and you shall set it before you. And you shall draw upon it the city of Jerusalem.

2 Si otua ho nnwuma ma no: yɛ apie tia no, yɛ mpampim ne nsraban wɔ ho, na fa obubuadaban nnua twa ho hyia.

And you shall set up a blockade against it, and you shall build fortifications, and you shall put together a rampart, and you shall encamp opposite it, and you shall place battering rams around it.

3 Afei, fa dadeɛ kyɛmferɛ to ɔfasuo wɔ wo ne kuropɔn no ntam na dane wʼani kyerɛ no. Wɔbɛtua kuropɔn no, na wo na wobɛtua no. Yei bɛyɛ nsɛnkyerɛnneɛ ama Israel efie.

And you shall take up for yourself an iron frying pan, and place it as an iron wall between you and the city. And harden your face against it, and it shall be under a siege, and you shall surround it. This is a sign to the house of Israel.

4 “Afei, da wo benkum so na fa Israel bɔne to wo ho so. Wobɛsoa wɔn bɔne nna dodoɔ a wode da wo fa so no.

And you shall sleep on your left side. And you shall place the iniquities of the house of Israel on it by the number of days that you will sleep on it. And you shall take upon yourself their iniquity.

5 Mede wɔn bɔne mfeɛ no mayɛ nna dodoɔ mama wo. Enti nnafua ahasa ne aduɔkron na wode bɛsoa Israelfoɔ bɔne.

For I have given to you the years of their iniquity, by the number of the days: three hundred and ninety days. And you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.

6 “Ɛno akyi, da bio wɔ wo nifa so na soa Yudafoɔ bɔne adaduanan a ɛda koro biara bɛyɛ afe baako.

And when you will have completed this, you shall sleep a second time, on your right side, and you shall assume the iniquity of the house of Judah for forty days: one day for each year; one day, I say, for each year, have I given to you.

7 Dane wʼani kyerɛ Yerusalem mpampim na fa nsa pan hyɛ nkɔm tia no.

And you shall turn your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, and your arm shall be extended. And you shall prophesy against it.

8 Mede ntampehoma bɛkyekyere wo sɛdeɛ worentumi nnane wo ho kɔsi sɛ otua nna no bɛba nʼawieeɛ.

Behold, I have surrounded you with chains. And you shall not turn yourself from one side to the other side, until you have completed the days of your siege.

9 “Fa atokoɔ ne ayuo, asɛ ne asɛdua, kɔkɔte ne aburoo; fa ne nyinaa gu adekora kuruwa mu na fa to burodo a wobɛdi. Yei na wobɛdi wɔ nnafua ahasa ne aduɔkron a woda wo fa so no.

And you shall take for yourself wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and vetch. And you shall set them in one vessel, and you shall make for yourself bread by the number of days that you will sleep upon your side: three hundred and ninety days shall you shall eat from it.

10 Kari aduane gram ahanu ne aduasa a wobɛdi no ɛda koro biara wɔ ɛberɛ ano, berɛ ano.

But your food, which you will eat, shall be in weight twenty staters a day. You shall eat it from time to time.

11 Afei, susu nsuo sukuruwa baako na nom no berɛ ano berɛ ano.

And you shall drink water by measure, one sixth part of a hin. You shall drink it from time to time.

12 Di aduane no sɛdeɛ anka wobɛdi atokoɔ ɔfam; to ma nnipa nhunu, na fa onipa agyanan yɛ ogya.”

And you shall eat it like barley bread baked under ashes. And you shall cover it, in their sight, with the dung that goes out of a man.”

13 Awurade kaa sɛ: “Saa ara na Israelfoɔ bɛdi aduane a wɔagu ho fi wɔ amanaman a mɛpam wɔn akɔ so no.”

And the Lord said: “So shall the sons of Israel eat their bread, polluted among the Gentiles, to whom I will cast them out.”

14 Na mekaa sɛ, “Ɛnte saa, Otumfoɔ Awurade! Menguu me ho fi da. Ɛfiri me mmɔfraase bɛsi saa ɛberɛ yi, mennii aboa funu anaa deɛ nkekaboa bi akum no atete ne mu da. Ɛnam a ɛho agu fi nkaa mʼano da.”

And I said: “Alas, alas, alas, O Lord God! Behold, my soul has not been polluted, and from my infancy even until now, I have not eaten anything that has died of itself, nor that which has been torn up by beasts, and no unclean flesh at all has entered into my mouth.”

15 Awurade kaa sɛ, “Ɛyɛ, mɛma wode nantwie agyanan asi onipa deɛ anan mu, na wato wo burodo wɔ so.”

And he said to me: “Behold, I have given to you cow manure in place of human dung, and you shall make your bread with it.”

16 Afei ɔka kyerɛɛ me sɛ, “Onipa ba, mɛtwa aduane a wɔde ba Yerusalem so. Nnipa no de ahoyera bɛdi aduane a wɔkyekyɛ mu, na wɔde abasamutuo anom nsuo a wɔkyekyɛ,

And he said to me: “Son of man, behold: I will crush the staff of bread in Jerusalem. And they will eat bread by weight and with anxiety. And they will drink water by measure and with anguish.

17 ɛfiri sɛ aduane ne nsuo ho bɛyɛ den. Wɔn ho bɛdwiri wɔn sɛ wɔhunu wɔn ho wɔn ho, na wɔn bɔne enti, wɔbɛfonfɔn.”

So then, when bread and water fail, each one may fall against his brother. And they shall waste away in their iniquities.”