Hiob 15
1 Na Temanni Elifas buaa sɛ,
Then Eliphaz replied to Job:
2 “Enti onyansafoɔ de nsɛm a aba biara nni muo bɛyi nʼano anaasɛ ɔde apueeɛ mframa a emu yɛ hye 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 huhuo bɛdi anobaabaeɛ, aka nsɛm a ɛntu bunu biara anaa?
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 wosi Onyankopɔn mu ahotosoɔ ho ɛkwan.
[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 deɛ ɔnka; na woafa aniteɛ 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 Wo ankasa wʼano bu wo kumfɔ, ɛnyɛ me deɛ; wʼankasa wʼano di adanseɛ 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 ɛkan? Wɔwoo wo ansa na wɔrewo nkokoɔ?
[“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 Wotie Onyankopɔn afotuo anaa? Wo nko ara na wonim nyansa anaa?
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 Ɛdeɛn na wonim a, yɛnnim? Nhunumu bɛn na wowɔ a yɛnnie?
(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 Deɛ wafu dwono ne akɔkoraa wɔ yɛn afa, wɔn a wɔanyini sene 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 awerɛkyekyerɛ ne nsɛm a wɔka no brɛoo kyerɛ wo no sua ma wo anaa?
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 enti na wʼakoma atwe wo korɔ adɛn enti na wʼani asɔ ogya,
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 woadane wʼabofuo agu Onyankopɔn so na woma saa nsɛm yi pue firi wʼano?
You are angry [IDM] with God, and so you [MTY] are criticizing/denouncing him.
14 “Ɔdasani ne hwan a ɔbɛtumi ayɛ pɛ, anaasɛ deɛ ɔbaa awo noɔ bɛn na ɔbɛtumi ayɛ ɔteneneeni?
“(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 ahotosoɔ wɔ nʼakronkronfoɔ mu. Ɔsorosoro mpo nnyɛ kronn wɔ nʼani so,
Hey, God does not even trust his angels; he does not consider even them to be [completely] pure.
16 na nkantom onipa bɔnefoɔ ne omumuyɛfoɔ a ɔnom awurukasɛm sɛ nsuo.
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 deɛ mahunu nkyerɛ wo,
Job, listen to what I will tell you. I will declare to you what I know,
18 deɛ anyansafoɔ apae mu aka, a wɔamfa biribiara a wɔnya firii wɔn agyanom hɔ no ansie
things that wise men have told me, truths that their ancestors did not keep hidden.
19 (wɔn a wɔde asase no maa wɔn ɛberɛ a ananafoɔ biara nni hɔ):
God gave this land to those ancestors, who were truly wise; no one from another country caused them to think wrongly [IDM].
20 Omumuyɛfoɔ kɔ ahohiahia mu ne nkwanna nyinaa. Na basabasayɛni nso, wɔahyehyɛ ne mfeɛ nyinaa ama no.
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 Nnyegyeɛ a ɛyɛ hu hyɛ nʼasom ma; na sɛ ɛyɛ sɛ nneɛma rekɔ yie ma no a, akorɔmfoɔ to hyɛ ne so.
They constantly hear sounds that terrify them; while they are prospering, bandits attack them.
22 Ɔpa aba sɛ ɔbɛdwane afiri esum mu; wɔabɔ no ato hɔ ama akofena.
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 Ɔkyinkyini hwehwɛ aduane; ɔnim sɛ esum 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 ahoyera 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 ɛfiri sɛ ɔtenetene ne nsa kyerɛ Onyankopɔn na ɔma ne ho so tia Otumfoɔ.
[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 akokyɛm a emu pi na ɛyɛ den kɔ ne so a wɔnsuro no.
They stubbornly [IDM] rush to attack God [as though they were carrying] a strong shield [to protect themselves].
27 “Ɛwom sɛ sradeɛ ama wɔn afono atotɔ na wɔn asene mu ɛnam agu mmɛbɛ deɛ,
They are so fat [that they are unable to fight].
28 nanso wɔbɛtena nkuro a aguo so na wɔatena afie a obi nte mu, afie a ɛrebubu mu.
They will live in cities that have been abandoned, cities which have become a heap of ruins.
29 Wɔrenkɔ so nyɛ adefoɔ bio, na wɔn ahonya rennyina, na wɔn agyapadeɛ so bɛte 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 Esum bɛduru wɔn; ogyaframa bɛkusa wɔn mman, na Onyankopɔn anom ahomeguo bɛsoa wɔn 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 wɔde wɔn ho to nneɛma huhuo so de daadaa wɔn ho, ɛfiri sɛ wɔrennya hwee mfiri 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 wɔn da bɛduru no, wɔbɛtua wɔn ka a ebi renka, na wɔn mman renyɛ frɔmfrɔm.
Before they are old, they will wither; they will be like [MET] branches that wither and never become green again.
33 Wɔbɛyɛ sɛ bobedua a wɔapore so aba a ɛnnyiniiɛ, te sɛ ngo dua a ne nhyerɛnne repore 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 abɔnefoɔ fekuo a wɔnnim Onyankopɔn no renso aba, na ogya bɛhye wɔn a wɔdɔ kɛtɛasehyɛ no ntomadan.
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 Wɔnyinsɛn ɔhaw na wɔwo amumuyɛ; wɔn awotwaa siesie nnaadaa.”
They plan to cause trouble and to do evil things, and they are always preparing to deceive people.”
