1“Adɛn nti na Onyankopɔn nhyɛ bere mma atemmu?
Adɛn nti na ɛsɛ sɛ wɔn a wonim no no hwɛ saa da no anim nanso ɛmma da?
2Nnipa yiyi abo a wɔde ato ɔhye;
na wɔde nguankuw a wɔawia kɔ hɔ adidi.
3Wɔpam ayisaa mfurum
na wogye akunafo anantwi sɛ awowaside.
4Wosum ahiafo fi kwan so
na wɔhyɛ asase no so ahiafo ma wɔkɔtetɛw.
5Sɛnea sare so mfurum yɛ no
saa ara na ahiafo no yɛ wɔn adwuma de pɛ aduan;
asase kesee no so na wonya aduan ma wɔn mma.
6Wɔboaboa mmoa aduan ano wɔ mfuw no so
na wodi mpɛpɛ wɔ amumɔyɛfo bobe nturo mu.
7Wonni ntama, na wɔda adagyaw anadwo;
wonni hwee a wɔde kata wɔn ho wɔ awɔw mu.
8Mmepɔw so osu tɔ fɔw wɔn kyam
na wɔtetare abotan no ho, efisɛ wonni nnae.
9Wɔtew ayisaa fi nufu ano;
na wɔfa ohiani abotafowa de si ne ka anan mu.
10Wɔnenam adagyaw a wonni ntama;
wɔsoa awi afiafi, nanso ɔkɔm de wɔn ara.
11Wokyi ngo wɔn adan mu;
wotiatia nsakyiamoa mu, nanso osukɔm de wɔn.
12Wɔn a wɔrewuwu no apinisi fi kuropɔn no mu,
na apirafo kra su pɛ mmoa.
Nanso Onyankopɔn mfa bɔne nto obiara so.
13“Ebinom wɔ hɔ a wɔsɔre tia hann no,
wɔn a wonnim nʼakwan
anaasɛ wɔnnantew nʼatempɔn so no.
14Sɛ adekyee hann no kɔ a, owudifo no sɔre
na okum ohiani ne mmɔborɔni;
anadwo, mu owiawia ne ho sɛ ɔkorɔmfo.
15Ɔwaresɛefo twɛn bere a anim rebiribiri;
ɔka se, ‘obiara renhu me,’
na ɔde nʼanim hintaw.
16Sum mu na nnipa bubu apon wura afi mu,
na adekyee, wɔtoto wɔn ho apon mu;
wɔne hann nni hwee yɛ.
17Sum kabii yɛ adekyee ma wɔn nyinaa;
wɔne sum mu nneɛma a ɛyɛ hu fa nnamfo.
18“Nanso wɔte sɛ ahuru a ɛte nsu ani;
wɔadome wɔn kyɛfa wɔ asase no so,
enti obiara nkɔ bobe nturo no mu.
19Sɛnea ɔhyew ne ɔpɛ hwim sukyerɛmma a anan kɔ no,
saa ara na ɔda de wɔn a wɔayɛ bɔne kɔ ne no.
20Awotwaa werɛ fi wɔn,
na osunson di wɔn nam;
nnipa bɔne de wɔnnkae wɔn bio
na mmom wobubu te sɛ dua.
21Wɔde ɔbea bonin a onni ba yɛ hanam,
na wonhu akunafo mmɔbɔ.
22Onyankopɔn nam ne tumi so twe atumfo kɔ;
ɛwɔ mu sɛ wonya asetena pa de, nanso wonni nkwa ho bɔhyɛ.
23Otumi ma wɔn tena ase asomdwoe mu,
nanso nʼani wɔ wɔn akwan so.
24Wɔma wɔn so bere tiaa bi, na afei wonni hɔ bio;
wɔbrɛ wɔn ase boaboa wɔn ano sɛ nnipa nyinaa;
wotwitwa wɔn gu te sɛ aburow ti.
25“Sɛ eyi nte saa a, hena na obetumi agye me akyinnye
na ama nea maka no ayɛ nsɛnhunu?”
1“Why does the Almighty not set times for judgment?
Why must those who know him look in vain for such days?
2There are those who move boundary stones;
they pasture flocks they have stolen.
3They drive away the orphan’s donkey
and take the widow’s ox in pledge.
4They thrust the needy from the path
and force all the poor of the land into hiding.
5Like wild donkeys in the desert,
the poor go about their labor of foraging food;
the wasteland provides food for their children.
6They gather fodder in the fields
and glean in the vineyards of the wicked.
7Lacking clothes, they spend the night naked;
they have nothing to cover themselves in the cold.
8They are drenched by mountain rains
and hug the rocks for lack of shelter.
9The fatherless child is snatched from the breast;
the infant of the poor is seized for a debt.
10Lacking clothes, they go about naked;
they carry the sheaves, but still go hungry.
11They crush olives among the terraces24:11 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.;
they tread the winepresses, yet suffer thirst.
12The groans of the dying rise from the city,
and the souls of the wounded cry out for help.
But God charges no one with wrongdoing.
13“There are those who rebel against the light,
who do not know its ways
or stay in its paths.
14When daylight is gone, the murderer rises up,
kills the poor and needy,
and in the night steals forth like a thief.
15The eye of the adulterer watches for dusk;
he thinks, ‘No eye will see me,’
and he keeps his face concealed.
16In the dark, thieves break into houses,
but by day they shut themselves in;
they want nothing to do with the light.
17For all of them, midnight is their morning;
they make friends with the terrors of darkness.
18“Yet they are foam on the surface of the water;
their portion of the land is cursed,
so that no one goes to the vineyards.
19As heat and drought snatch away the melted snow,
so the grave snatches away those who have sinned.
20The womb forgets them,
the worm feasts on them;
the wicked are no longer remembered
but are broken like a tree.
21They prey on the barren and childless woman,
and to the widow they show no kindness.
22But God drags away the mighty by his power;
though they become established, they have no assurance of life.
23He may let them rest in a feeling of security,
but his eyes are on their ways.
24For a little while they are exalted, and then they are gone;
they are brought low and gathered up like all others;
they are cut off like heads of grain.
25“If this is not so, who can prove me false
and reduce my words to nothing?”
