Hiob 24
1 “Adɛn enti na Onyankopɔn nhyɛ berɛ mma atemmuo? Adɛn enti na ɛsɛ sɛ wɔn a wɔnim noɔ no hwɛ saa da no anim ɛnso ɛmma da?
“Why aren’t times laid up by the Almighty? Why don’t those who know him see his days?
2 Nnipa yiyi aboɔ a wɔde ato hyeɛ; na wɔde nnwankuo a wɔawia kɔ hɔ adidi.
There are people who remove the landmarks. They violently take away flocks, and feed them.
3 Wɔpam nwisiaa mfunumu na wɔgye akunafoɔ anantwie sɛ awowasideɛ.
They drive away the donkey of the fatherless, and they take the widow’s ox for a pledge.
4 Wɔsum ahiafoɔ firi ɛkwan so na wɔhyɛ asase no so ahiafoɔ ma wɔkɔtetɛ.
They turn the needy out of the way. The poor of the earth all hide themselves.
5 Ahiafoɔ no yɛ wɔn adwuma pɛ aduane te sɛ ɛserɛ so mfunumu no; asase wesee no so na wɔnya aduane ma wɔn mma.
Behold, as wild donkeys in the desert, they go out to their work, seeking diligently for food. The wilderness yields them bread for their children.
6 Wɔboaboa mmoa aduane ano wɔ mfuo no so na wɔdi mpɛpɛ wɔ amumuyɛfoɔ bobe nturo mu.
They cut their food in the field. They glean the vineyard of the wicked.
7 Wɔnni ntoma, na wɔda kwaterekwa; wɔnni hwee a wɔde kata wɔn ho wɔ awɔ mu.
They lie all night naked without clothing, and have no covering in the cold.
8 Mmepɔ so osutɔ fɔ wɔn twɔnn na wɔfomfam mmotan no ho ɛfiri sɛ wɔnni ahatasoɔ.
They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for lack of a shelter.
9 Wɔte awisiaa firi nufoɔ ano; na wɔfa ohiani abotafoa de si ne ka anan mu.
There are those who pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor,
10 Wɔnenam adagya a wɔnni ntoma; wɔsoa ayuo afiafi, nanso ɛkɔm de wɔn ara.
so that they go around naked without clothing. Being hungry, they carry the sheaves.
11 Wɔkyi ngo wɔn adan mu; wɔtiatia nsakyimena mu, nanso osukɔm de wɔn.
They make oil within the walls of these men. They tread wine presses, and suffer thirst.
12 Wɔn a wɔrewuwuo no apinisie firi kuropɔn no mu, na apirafoɔ kra su pɛ mmoa. Nanso Onyankopɔn mfa bɔne nto obiara so.
From out of the populous city, men groan. The soul of the wounded cries out, yet God doesn’t regard the folly.
13 “Ebinom wɔ hɔ a wɔsɔre tia hann no, wɔn a wɔnnim nʼakwan anaasɛ wɔnnante nʼatempɔn so.
“These are of those who rebel against the light. They don’t know its ways, nor stay in its paths.
14 Sɛ adekyeɛ hann no kɔ a, owudifoɔ no sɔre na ɔkum ohiani ne mmɔborɔni; adesaeɛ mu, ɔwiawia ne ho sɛ ɔkorɔmfoɔ.
The murderer rises with the light. He kills the poor and needy. In the night he is like a thief.
15 Ɔwaresɛefoɔ twɛn ɛberɛ a adeɛ resa; ɔka sɛ, ‘obiara renhunu me,’ na ɔde nʼanim hinta.
The eye also of the adulterer waits for the twilight, saying, ‘No eye will see me.’ He disguises his face.
16 Esum mu na nnipa bubu apono wura afie mu, na awiaberɛ mu no, wɔtoto wɔn ho ɛpono mu; wɔne hann nni hwee yɛ.
In the dark they dig through houses. They shut themselves up in the daytime. They don’t know the light.
17 Esum kabii yɛ adekyeɛ ma wɔn nyinaa; wɔne esum mu nneɛma a ɛyɛ hu fa nnamfo.
For the morning is to all of them like thick darkness, for they know the terrors of the thick darkness.
18 “Nanso wɔte sɛ ahuro a ɛtɛ nsuo ani; wɔadome wɔn kyɛfa wɔ asase no so, enti obiara nnkɔ bobe nturo no mu.
“They are foam on the surface of the waters. Their portion is cursed in the earth. They don’t turn into the way of the vineyards.
19 Sɛdeɛ ɔhyew ne ɔpɛ de sukyerɛmma a anane korɔ no, saa ara na damena de wɔn a wɔayɛ bɔne korɔ. (Sheol h7585)
Drought and heat consume the snow waters, so does Sheol those who have sinned. (Sheol h7585)
20 Awotwaa werɛ firi wɔn, na ɔsonsono di wɔn nam; nnipa bɔne deɛ, wɔnnkae wɔn bio na mmom wɔbubu te sɛ dua.
The womb will forget him. The worm will feed sweetly on him. He will be no more remembered. Unrighteousness will be broken as a tree.
21 Wɔde ɔbaa bonini a ɔnni ba yɛ haboa, na wɔnhunu akunafoɔ mmɔbɔ.
He devours the barren who don’t bear. He shows no kindness to the widow.
22 Onyankopɔn nam ne tumi so twe atumfoɔ kɔ; ɛwom sɛ wɔnya asetena pa deɛ, nanso wɔnni nkwa ho bɔhyɛ.
Yet God preserves the mighty by his power. He rises up who has no assurance of life.
23 Ɔtumi ma wɔn tena ase asomdwoeɛ mu, nanso nʼani wɔ wɔn akwan so.
God gives them security, and they rest in it. His eyes are on their ways.
24 Wɔma wɔn so berɛ tiawa bi, na afei wɔnni hɔ bio; wɔbrɛ wɔn ase boaboa wɔn ano sɛ nnipa nyinaa; wɔtwitwa wɔn gu te sɛ aburoo ti.
They are exalted; yet a little while, and they are gone. Yes, they are brought low, they are taken out of the way as all others, and are cut off as the tops of the ears of grain.
25 “Sɛ yei nte saa a, hwan na ɔbɛtumi agye me akyinnyeɛ na ama deɛ maka ayɛ nsɛnhunu?”
If it isn’t so now, who will prove me a liar, and make my speech worth nothing?”
