Kwadwom 5
1 Ao Awurade, kae deɛ aba yɛn so; hwɛ, na hunu yɛn animguaseɛ.
Remember, O LORD, what has happened to us. Look and see our disgrace!
2 Wɔadane yɛn agyapadeɛ ama ahɔhoɔ, wɔde yɛn afie ama ananafoɔ.
Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our houses to foreigners.
3 Yɛayɛ nwisiaa na yɛnni agyanom, yɛn maamenom ayɛ sɛ akunafoɔ.
We have become fatherless orphans; our mothers are widows.
4 Ɛsɛ sɛ yɛtɔ nsuo a yɛnom; yɛbɛnya nnyina a, gye sɛ yɛtɔ.
We must buy the water we drink; our wood comes at a price.
5 Wɔn a wɔtaa yɛn no abɛn yɛn pɛɛ; Yɛabrɛ na yɛnnya ahomegyeɛ.
We are closely pursued; we are weary and find no rest.
6 Yɛde yɛn ho maa Misraim ne Asiria sɛdeɛ yɛbɛnya aduane a ɛbɛso yɛn.
We submitted to Egypt and Assyria to get enough bread.
7 Yɛn agyanom yɛɛ bɔne, na wɔnni hɔ bio, na yɛn na wɔn asotwe abɛda yɛn so.
Our fathers sinned and are no more, but we bear their punishment.
8 Nkoa di yɛn so, na obiara nni hɔ a ɔbɛgye yɛn afiri wɔn nsam.
Slaves rule over us; there is no one to deliver us from their hands.
9 Yɛde yɛn nkwa bɔ afɔdeɛ de pɛ yɛn anoduane, akofena a ɛwɔ ɛserɛ so no enti.
We get our bread at the risk of our lives because of the sword in the wilderness.
10 Yɛn honam adɔ sɛ fononoo. Ɛkɔm ama huraeɛ abɔ yɛn.
Our skin is as hot as an oven with fever from our hunger.
11 Wɔato mmaa monnaa wɔ Sion, ne mmaabunu a wɔwɔ Yuda nkuro so.
Women have been ravished in Zion, virgins in the cities of Judah.
12 Wɔkyekyere mmapɔmma nsa na wɔasɛn wɔn; wɔmmfa anidie mma mpanimfoɔ.
Princes have been hung up by their hands; elders receive no respect.
13 Mmeranteɛ yɛ adwuma den wɔ ayuoyammoɔ so; na mmerantewaa nan toto wɔ nnyina duruduru ase.
Young men toil at millstones; boys stagger under loads of wood.
14 Mpanimfoɔ ntena kuropɔn apono ano bio; mmeranteɛ agyae wɔn nnwontoɔ.
The elders have left the city gate; the young men have stopped their music.
15 Ahosɛpɛ afiri yɛn akoma mu; yɛn asa adane agyaadwotwa.
Joy has left our hearts; our dancing has turned to mourning.
16 Ahenkyɛ afiri yɛn tiri so. Yɛn ara, yɛnnue sɛ yɛayɛ bɔne!
The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned!
17 Yei enti yɛn akoma atɔ piti, yeinom enti yɛn ani so ayɛ kusuu
Because of this, our hearts are faint; because of these, our eyes grow dim—
18 wɔ Sion bepɔ a ada mpan na sakraman nenam soɔ no enti.
because of Mount Zion, which lies desolate, patrolled by foxes.
19 Wo, Ao Awurade, di ɔhene afebɔɔ; wʼahennwa firi awoɔ ntoatoasoɔ kɔsi awoɔ ntoatoasoɔ.
You, O LORD, reign forever; Your throne endures from generation to generation.
20 Adɛn enti na wo werɛ firi yɛn daa yi? Adɛn enti na wagya yɛn mmerɛ tenten mu yi?
Why have You forgotten us forever? Why have You forsaken us for so long?
21 Ka yɛn bata wo ho bio, Ao, Awurade, na yɛatumi aba wo nkyɛn; yɛ yɛn nna foforɔ sɛ tete no
Restore us to Yourself, O LORD, so we may return; renew our days as of old,
22 agye sɛ wapo yɛn koraa anaa sɛ wo bo afu yɛn mmorosoɔ.
unless You have utterly rejected us and remain angry with us beyond measure.
