Nnwom 88
1 Esrahini Heman ɔhaw ne amanehunu dwom. Ao Awurade, me nkwagyeɛ Onyankopɔn mesu wɔ wʼanim adekyeeɛ ne adesaeɛ.
Yahweh God, you who rescues me, all during each day I call out [to you] to help me, and I cry out to you during each night also.
2 Ma me mpaeɛbɔ nnuru wʼanim; brɛ wʼaso ase tie me sufrɛ.
Listen [IDM] to my prayer [DOU], while I cry out to you [for help]!
I have experienced many troubles/difficulties, and I am about to die [MTY] and go where dead people are. (Sheol h7585)
4 Wɔkan me fra wɔn a wɔrekɔ damena mu; mete sɛ obi a ɔnni ahoɔden.
Because I have no more strength, [other people also] consider that I will soon die.
5 Wɔayi me asi nkyɛn wɔ awufoɔ mu, te sɛ atɔfoɔ a wɔdeda ɛda mu, wɔn a wonkae wɔn bio, na wonhwɛ wɔn bio.
I am like a corpse that has been abandoned; I am like dead people who lie in their graves, people who have been completely forgotten, because you do not take care of them any more.
6 Woato me atwene damena ase tɔnn, wɔ esum kabii mu.
[It is as though] you have thrown me into a deep, dark pit, into a place where they throw corpses.
7 Wʼabofuhyeɛ ayɛ duru wɔ me so; woama wʼasorɔkye nyinaa abu afa me so.
[It seems like] you are very angry with me, and [it is as though] you have crushed me like [ocean] waves [crash down on people] [MET].
8 Woafa me nnamfonom a wɔbɛn me afiri me nkyɛn woama me ho ayɛ wɔn ahi. Woaka me ahyɛ mu na mentumi nnwane;
You have caused my friends to (avoid/stay away from) me; I have become repulsive to them. [It is as though] I am in a prison and cannot escape.
9 awerɛhoɔ ama mʼani so ayɛ kusuu. Ao Awurade mesu frɛ wo da biara; metrɛ me nsam kyerɛ wo.
My eyes cannot see well because I cry very much. Yahweh, every day I call out to you [to help me]; I lift up my hands to you [while I pray].
10 Woyɛ anwanwadeɛ kyerɛ awufoɔ anaa? Wɔn a wɔawuwu no sɔre kamfo wo anaa?
You certainly do not [RHQ] perform miracles for dead people! Their spirits do not [RHQ] arise to praise you!
11 Wɔka wʼadɔeɛ ho asɛm wɔ ɛda mu anaa, anaasɛ wo nokorɛ ho asɛm wɔ ɔsɛeɛ kurom?
Corpses in the grave certainly do not tell about your faithfully loving us [RHQ], and in the place where people are finally destroyed, no one tells about what you faithfully [do for us] [RHQ].
12 Wɔhunu wʼanwanwadeɛ wɔ beaeɛ a ɛhɔ aduru sum, anaa wo tenenee nnwuma wɔ awerɛfirie asase so?
No one in the deep dark pit ever sees the miracles that you perform [RHQ], and no one in the place where people have been completely forgotten tells about your being good to us.
13 Nanso Ao Awurade, mesu frɛ wo sɛ boa me; me mpaeɛbɔ duru wʼanim adekyeeɛ mu
But [as for me], Yahweh, I cry out to you [to help me]; each morning I pray to you.
14 Ao Awurade, adɛn nti na wopo me na wode wʼanim hinta me?
Yahweh, why do you reject me [RHQ]? Why do you turn away from me [RHQ]?
15 Mahunu amane firi me mmɔfraase na mabɛn owuo; wʼahunahuna ama mabrɛ na mapa aba.
All the time since I was young, I have suffered and have often almost died; I am (in despair/very discouraged) because of enduring the terrible things that you have done to me.
16 Wʼabofuhyeɛ abu afa me so; wʼahunahuna asɛe me.
[I feel that] you have crushed me because of your being angry with me; the terrible things that you are doing to me are almost destroying me.
17 Daa nyinaa wɔtwa me ho hyia sɛ nsuyire, na wɔabu afa me so koraa.
[I feel as though] they surround me like a flood [SIM]; they are (closing in on/crushing) me from all sides.
18 Woafa mʼayɔnkofoɔ ne mʼadɔfoɔ afiri me nkyɛn kɔ; na esum ayɛ mʼadamfo brɛboɔ.
You have caused [even] my friends and others whom I love to avoid me, and [it is as though] the only friend that I have is darkness.
