1Wɔnnue, wɔn a wɔhyɛ mmara a ɛmmfa ɛkwan mu,
wɔn a wɔhyɛ mmaraden a ɛde nhyɛsoɔ ba,
2de tena ahiafoɔ ahofadie so,
de atɛntenenee bɔ me nkurɔfoɔ a wɔhyɛ wɔn so no atirimuɔden.
Wɔma akunafoɔ yɛ amanehunufoɔ
na wɔbɔ nwisiaa korɔno.
3Ɛdeɛn na mobɛyɛ akontabuo da no,
ɛberɛ a amanehunu firi akyirikyiri reba?
Hwan nkyɛn na mobɛdwane akɔpɛ mmoa?
Ɛhefa na mobɛgya mo ahodeɛ?
4Ɛnka mo hwee sɛ mobɛfra nneduafoɔ mu
anaa sɛ mobɛtotɔ wɔ atɔfoɔ mu.
Nanso yeinom nyinaa akyi no, ne bo nnwooɛ,
na wama ne nsa so ayɛ krado.
Asiria Atemmuo A Ɛfiri Onyankopɔn
5“Nnome nka Asiriani no, mʼabufuo abaa,
deɛ ɔkura mʼabufuhyeɛ poma no!
6Meresoma no akɔ ɔman a wɔnnim Onyankopɔn so.
Meregya no kwan ma wakɔ nnipa a wɔhyɛ me abufuo so
sɛ wɔnkɔgye korɔnodeɛ abrane so na wɔnhwim afɔdeɛ,
na wɔntiatia wɔn so sɛ dɔteɛ wɔ mmɔntene so.
7Nanso ɛnyɛ yei ne deɛ ɔpɛ sɛ ɔyɛ
ɛnyɛ yei ne deɛ ɛwɔ nʼadwene mu.
Ne botaeɛ ne sɛ ɔbɛsɛe,
sɛ ɔde aman bebree bɛba wɔn awieeɛ.
8Na ɔbisa sɛ, ‘Ahemfo nyinaa nnyɛ mʼasahene anaa?
9Kalno nyɛɛ sɛ Karkemis anaa?
Hamat nte sɛ Arpad
na Samaria nte sɛ Damasko anaa?
10Ampa ara, megyee ahoni ahennie ahodoɔ abrane soɔ,
ahennie a wɔn nsɛsodeɛ sene deɛ ɛwɔ Yerusalem ne Samaria no.
11Merentumi ne Yerusalem ne ne nsɛsodeɛ nni anaa,
sɛdeɛ mene Samaria ne nʼahoni diiɛ no?’ ”
12Sɛ Awurade wie nʼadwuma a ɛtia Bepɔ Sion ne Yerusalem nyinaa a, ɔbɛka sɛ, “Mɛtwe Asiriahene aso wɔ nʼakoma pirim ne nʼani a ɛnsɔ adeɛ no ho. 13Ɛfiri sɛ ɔka sɛ,
“ ‘Mede mʼahoɔden na ayɛ yei,
na ɛfiri me nyansa mu, ɛfiri sɛ mewɔ nimdeɛ.
Mesɛee amanaman ahyeɛ.
Mefoo wɔn ademudeɛ;
mebrɛɛ wɔn ahemfo ase te sɛ ɔbrane.
14Sɛdeɛ obi tene ne nsa hyɛ pirebuo mu no,
saa ara nso na mɛtene me nsa wɔ amanaman no ahonyadeɛ so;
sɛdeɛ wɔtase nkosua a wɔagya hɔ no
saa ara na mɛboaboaa amanaman no nyinaa ano;
obiara ammɔ ne ntaban mu,
na wammue nʼano ansu.’ ”
15Akuma ma ne ho so tra deɛ ɔtoɔ?
Anaasɛ ɛwan hoahoa ne ho kyɛn deɛ ɔde no yɛ adwuma anaa?
Ayɛ te sɛ deɛ abaa tumi danedane deɛ ɔmaa no so,
anaa sɛ aporibaa ankasa tumi nante!
16Afei Awurade, Asafo Awurade
de ɔyaredɔm bɛbɔ nʼakofoɔ ahoɔdenfoɔ no;
na ne kɛseyɛ mu no, ɔbɛma ogya adɛre
ahye wɔn animuonyam.
17Israel Hann no bɛdane ogya.
Wɔn Kronkronni no bɛdane ogya dɛreɛ;
ɔde dakoro bɛhye na wasɛe
ne nkasɛɛ ne nnɛnkyɛnse.
18Asiria kwaeɛ ne nʼasase bereɛ animuonyam no,
ɛbɛsɛe pasapasa
te sɛ ɔyarefoɔ a ne so reteɛ.
19Nnua a ɛbɛka wɔ ne kwaeɛ mu bɛyɛ kakra bi
a abɔfra bɛtumi akyerɛ ne dodoɔ.
Israel Nkaeɛfoɔ
20Ɛda no, Israel nkaeɛfoɔ,
Yakob fiefoɔ a wɔbɛka no
remfa wɔn ho nto no so bio.
Awurade, Israel Kronkronni no a ɔbɔɔ wɔn hwee fam no
mmom na wɔde wɔn ho bɛto no so nokorɛm.
21Nkaeɛfoɔ no bɛsane aba. Yakob nkaeɛfoɔ no
bɛsane aba Otumfoɔ Onyankopɔn no nkyɛn.
22Ao Israel, ɛwom sɛ wo nkurɔfoɔ dɔɔso sɛ mpoano anwea deɛ,
nanso nkaeɛfoɔ bi pɛ na wɔbɛsane aba.
Wɔahyɛ ɔsɛeɛ ho mmara denden
a ɛbɛbunkam nnipa no so, na mmara no yɛ.
23Awurade, Asafo Awurade, ɔsɛeɛ
a wahyɛ ho mmara ketee na ɛbɛba asase no so nyinaa.
24Enti, yei ne deɛ Awurade, Asafo Awurade seɛ,
“Ao Me nkurɔfoɔ a mote Sion
monnsuro Asiriafoɔ no,
wɔn a wɔde mmaa hwe mo
na wɔde aporibaa bobɔ mo, sɛdeɛ Misraim yɛeɛ no.
25Ɛrenkyɛre koraa mʼabufuo a ɛtia mo no ano bɛdwo
na mʼaniberɛ bɛkɔ wɔn sɛeɛ so.”
26Asafo Awurade de mpire bɛhwe wɔn,
sɛdeɛ ɔbɔɔ Midian hwee fam wɔ Oreb Ɔbotan ho no;
na ɔbɛtene ne poma nsuo no so,
sɛdeɛ ɔyɛɛ wɔ Misraim no.
27Ɛda no, wɔbɛyi wɔn adesoa no afiri wo mmatire so;
wɔn kɔnnua afiri wo kɔn mu;
wɔbubu kɔnnua no
na afiri mo so.
28Wɔhyɛne Ayat;
wɔfa Migron;
na wɔkora wɔn nneɛma wɔ Mikmas.
29Wɔtwam wɔ kwantempɔn no so, na wɔka sɛ,
“yɛbɛda Geba anadwo yi.”
Rama ho popo;
Saulo kuro Gibea nso dwane.
30Teaam Ɔbabaa Galim!
Tie, Ao Laisa!
Anatot Mmɔborɔni!
31Madmena redwane;
Gebimfoɔ kɔtetɛ.
32Ɛnnɛ ara wɔbɛgyina wɔ Nob;
wɔbɛwoso wɔn nsa
wɔ Ɔbabaa Sion bepɔ no so
wɔ Yerusalem kokoɔ no so.
33Hwɛ, Awurade, Asafo Awurade no,
ɔde tumi kɛseɛ bɛtwitwa dua mman no.
Wɔbɛbubu nnua atentene no agu fam;
deɛ ɛwoware no bɛba fam.
34Ɔde akuma bɛtwitwa kwaeɛm dɔtɔ agu fam.
Lebanon bɛhwe ase Ɔkɛseɛ no anim.
1How terrible it will be for you
who make laws that aren’t fair!
How terrible for you
who write laws that make life hard for others!
2You take away the rights of poor people.
You hold back what is fair from my people who are suffering.
You take for yourselves what belongs to widows.
You rob children whose fathers have died.
3What will you do on the day when the Lord punishes you?
On that day trouble will come from far away.
Who will you run to for help?
Who will you trust your riches with?
4All you can do is bow down in fear among the prisoners.
All you can do is fall among those who have died in battle.
Even then, the Lord is still angry.
His hand is still raised against them.
The Lord Will Judge Assyria
5The Lord says, “How terrible it will be for the people of Assyria!
They are the war club that carries out my anger.
6I will send them against the ungodly nation of Judah.
I will order them to fight against my own people.
My people make me angry.
I will order Assyria to take their goods and carry them away.
I will order Assyria to walk on my people
as if they were walking on mud.
7But that is not what the king of Assyria plans.
It is not what he has in mind.
His purpose is to destroy many nations.
His purpose is to put an end to them.
8‘Aren’t all my commanders kings?’ he says.
9‘I took over Kalno just as I took Carchemish.
I took over Hamath just as I did Arpad.
I took Samaria just as I did Damascus.
10My powerful hand grabbed hold of kingdoms
whose people worship statues of gods.
They had more gods than Jerusalem and Samaria did.
11I took over Samaria and its statues of gods.
In the same way, I will take Jerusalem and its gods.’ ”
12The Lord will finish everything he has planned to do against Mount Zion and Jerusalem. Then he’ll say, “Now I will punish the king of Assyria. I will punish him because his heart and his eyes are so proud. 13The king of Assyria says,
“ ‘By my power
I have taken over all these nations.
I am very wise.
I have great understanding.
I have wiped out the borders between nations.
I’ve taken their treasures.
Like a great hero I’ve brought their kings under my control.
14I’ve taken the wealth of the nations.
It was as easy as reaching into a bird’s nest.
I’ve gathered the riches of all these countries.
It was as easy as gathering eggs
that have been left in a nest.
Not a single baby bird flapped its wings.
Not one of them opened its mouth to chirp.’ ”
15Does an ax claim to be more important
than the person who swings it?
Does a saw brag that it is better
than the one who uses it?
That would be like a stick
swinging the person who picks it up!
It would be like a war club
waving the one who carries it!
16So the Lord who rules over all will send a sickness.
The Lord will send it on the king of Assyria’s strong fighting men.
It will make them weaker and weaker.
The army he was so proud of will be completely destroyed.
It will be as if it had been burned up in a fire.
17The Lord is the Light of Israel.
He will become a fire.
Israel’s Holy One will become a flame.
In a single day he will burn up all Assyria’s bushes.
He will destroy all their thorns.
18He will completely destroy the beauty
of their forests and rich farm lands.
The Assyrian army will be like a sick person
who becomes weaker and weaker.
19It will be like the trees of their forests.
So few of them will be left standing
that even a child could count them.
The Israelites Who Are Left Alive
20In days to come, some people will still be left alive in Israel.
They will be from Jacob’s family line.
But they won’t depend any longer on
the nation that struck them down.
Instead, they will truly depend on the Lord.
He is the Holy One of Israel.
21The people of Jacob who are still alive
will return to the Mighty God.
22Israel, your people might be as many as the grains of sand by the sea.
But only a few of them will return.
The Lord has handed down a death sentence.
He will destroy his people.
What he does is right.
23The Lord who rules over all will carry out his sentence.
The Lord will destroy the whole land.
24The Lord rules over all. The Lord says,
“My people who live in Zion,
do not be afraid of the Assyrian army.
They beat you with rods.
They lift up war clubs against you,
just as the Egyptians did.
25Very soon I will not be angry with you anymore.
I will turn my anger against the Assyrians.
I will destroy them.”
26The Lord who rules over all will beat them with a whip.
He will strike them down as he struck down Midian at the rock of Oreb.
And he will stretch out his walking stick over the waters.
That’s what he did in Egypt.
27People of Zion, in days to come he will help you.
He will lift the heavy load of the Assyrians from your shoulders.
He will remove their yokes from your necks.
Their yokes will be broken
because you have become so strong.
28The Assyrian army has entered the town of Aiath.
They have passed through Migron.
They have stored up supplies at Mikmash.
29They have marched through the pass there. They said,
“Let’s camp for the night at Geba.”
The people of Ramah tremble with fear.
Those who live in Gibeah of Saul run away.
30Town of Gallim, cry out!
Laishah, listen!
Poor Anathoth!
31The people of Madmenah are running away.
Those who live in Gebim are hiding.
32Today the Assyrians have stopped at Nob.
They are shaking their fists
at Mount Zion in the city of Jerusalem.
33The Assyrian soldiers are like trees in a forest.
The Lord who rules over all
will chop them down.
The Lord will cut off their branches
with his great power.
He will chop the tall trees down.
He will cut down even the highest ones.
34The Mighty One will chop down the forest with his ax.
He will cut down the cedar trees in Lebanon.
