1“Nanso mprempren wɔserew me,
nnipa a manyin sen wɔn,
na wɔn agyanom mfata sɛ
wɔne me nguan ho akraman tena.
2Mfaso bɛn na wɔn nsa mu ahoɔden wɔ ma me,
bere a wɔn ahoɔden afi wɔn mu?
3Ohia ne ɔkɔm ama wɔn ho atetew,
wɔnantew asase kesee
ne asase bonin so anadwo.
4Wɔboaboaa nkyenhaban ano wɔ nkyɛkyerɛ mu,
na wɔde sare so nnua ntin yɛɛ wɔn aduan.
5Wɔn mfɛfo pam wɔn fii wɔn mu,
na wohuroo wɔn sɛ akorɔmfo.
6Wɔhyɛɛ wɔn ma wɔtenaa suka a emu awo,
abotan ne fam ntokuru mu,
7wosuu sɛ mfurum wɔ wuram
na wɔfofɔree so wɔ ɔdɔtɔ ase.
8Kuw a wɔmfra na wonni din,
wɔpam wɔn fii asase no so.
9“Na nnɛ yi wɔn mmabarima de dwom bɔ me akutia;
mayɛ abusude wɔ wɔn mu.
10Wokyi me na wontwiw mmɛn me;
wɔmmfɛre sɛ wɔtete ntasu gu mʼanim.
11Afei a Onyankopɔn abubu me tadua na ɔde amanehunu aba me so yi,
wɔyɛ nea wɔpɛ wɔ mʼanim.
12Abusuakuw no tow hyɛ me so wɔ me nifa so;
wosum mʼanan mfiri,
na wosisi mpie tia me.
13Wosisiw mʼakwan;
na wonya me sɛe me
na obiara mmoa me.
14Wɔba te sɛ nea wofi ntokuru a ano abae mu;
wɔnam mmubui no mu munumunum ba.
15Ahunahuna ma me ho dwiriw me;
mʼanuonyam atu kɔ sɛnea mframa abɔ agu,
me bammɔ atu ayera sɛ omununkum.
16“Na mprempren, me nkwa resa;
na amanehununna akyekyere me.
17Anadwo wowɔ me nnompe mu;
ɔyaw a ɛwe me no nnyae.
18Onyankopɔn fi ne tumi mu yɛ sɛ adurade ma me;
omia me te sɛ mʼatade kɔn.
19Ɔtow me kyene dontori mu
na ɔma me yɛ sɛ mfutuma ne nsõ.
20“Onyankopɔn, misu mefrɛ wo, nanso wummua me.
Mesɔre gyina, nanso wohwɛ me kɛkɛ.
21Woba me so anibere so;
wode wʼabasa mu tumi tow hyɛ me so.
22Wuhwim me na wode mframa pia me;
wudenkyidenkyi me wɔ ahum mu.
23Minim sɛ wode me bɛkɔ owu mu,
faako a woahyɛ ama ateasefo nyinaa no.
24“Ampa ara obiara mfa ne nsa nka onipa a ɔrebrɛ
bere a ɔresu pɛ mmoa wɔ nʼamanehunu mu.
25Mansu amma wɔn a wɔwɔ ɔhaw mu ana?
Me kra werɛ anhow amma ahiafo ana?
26Nanso bere a mʼani da papa so no, bɔne bae;
bere a mepɛɛ hann no sum na edurui.
27Me yafunu mu a ɛwowɔ me no nnyae da;
na nna a amanehunu wɔ mu da mʼanim.
28Menenam a mabiri, nanso ɛnyɛ sɛ owia na ahyew me;
migyina aguabɔbea na misu pɛ mmoa.
29Madan nnompo nuabarima,
me ne mpatu na ɛbɔ.
30Me honam ani biri na ehuanhuan;
atiridii ama me ho adɔ.
31Me sanku bɔ kwadwom,
na mʼatɛntɛbɛn ma agyaadwotwa nnyigyei.
1“But now they mock me,
men younger than I,
whose fathers I would have disdained
to put with my sheep dogs.
2Of what use was the strength of their hands to me,
since their vigor had gone from them?
3Haggard from want and hunger,
they roamed30:3 Or gnawed the parched land
in desolate wastelands at night.
4In the brush they gathered salt herbs,
and their food30:4 Or fuel was the root of the broom bush.
5They were banished from human society,
shouted at as if they were thieves.
6They were forced to live in the dry stream beds,
among the rocks and in holes in the ground.
7They brayed among the bushes
and huddled in the undergrowth.
8A base and nameless brood,
they were driven out of the land.
9“And now those young men mock me in song;
I have become a byword among them.
10They detest me and keep their distance;
they do not hesitate to spit in my face.
11Now that God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me,
they throw off restraint in my presence.
12On my right the tribe30:12 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain. attacks;
they lay snares for my feet,
they build their siege ramps against me.
13They break up my road;
they succeed in destroying me.
‘No one can help him,’ they say.
14They advance as through a gaping breach;
amid the ruins they come rolling in.
15Terrors overwhelm me;
my dignity is driven away as by the wind,
my safety vanishes like a cloud.
16“And now my life ebbs away;
days of suffering grip me.
17Night pierces my bones;
my gnawing pains never rest.
18In his great power God becomes like clothing to me30:18 Hebrew; Septuagint power he grasps my clothing;
he binds me like the neck of my garment.
19He throws me into the mud,
and I am reduced to dust and ashes.
20“I cry out to you, God, but you do not answer;
I stand up, but you merely look at me.
21You turn on me ruthlessly;
with the might of your hand you attack me.
22You snatch me up and drive me before the wind;
you toss me about in the storm.
23I know you will bring me down to death,
to the place appointed for all the living.
24“Surely no one lays a hand on a broken man
when he cries for help in his distress.
25Have I not wept for those in trouble?
Has not my soul grieved for the poor?
26Yet when I hoped for good, evil came;
when I looked for light, then came darkness.
27The churning inside me never stops;
days of suffering confront me.
28I go about blackened, but not by the sun;
I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.
29I have become a brother of jackals,
a companion of owls.
30My skin grows black and peels;
my body burns with fever.
31My lyre is tuned to mourning,
and my pipe to the sound of wailing.
