1Look at how the gold has lost its brightness!
See how dull the fine gold has become!
The sacred jewels are scattered
at every street corner.
2The priceless children of Zion
were worth their weight in gold.
But now they are thought of as clay pots
made by the hands of a potter.
3Even wild dogs
nurse their young pups.
But my people are as mean
as ostriches in the desert.
4When the babies get thirsty,
their tongues stick to the roofs of their mouths.
When the children beg for bread,
no one gives them any.
5Those who once ate fine food
are dying in the streets.
Those who wore royal clothes
are now lying on piles of trash.
6My people have been punished
more than Sodom was.
It was destroyed in a moment.
No one offered it a helping hand.
7Jerusalem’s princes were brighter than snow.
They were whiter than milk.
Their bodies were redder than rubies.
They looked like lapis lazuli.
8But now they are blacker than coal.
No one even recognizes them in the streets.
Their skin is wrinkled on their bones.
It has become as dry as a stick.
9Those killed by swords are better off
than those who die of hunger.
Those who are hungry waste away to nothing.
They don’t have any food from the fields.
10With their own hands, loving mothers
have had to cook even their own children.
They ate their children
when my people were destroyed.
11The Lord has become very angry.
He has poured out his burning anger.
He started a fire in Zion.
It burned its foundations.
12The kings of the earth couldn’t believe what was happening.
Neither could any of the peoples of the world.
Enemies actually attacked and entered
the gates of Jerusalem.
13It happened because Jerusalem’s prophets had sinned.
Her priests had done evil things.
All of them spilled the blood
of those who did what was right.
14Now those prophets and priests
have to feel their way along the streets
as if they were blind.
The blood of those they killed has made them “unclean.”
So no one dares to touch their clothes.
15“Go away! You are ‘unclean’!”
people cry out to them.
“Go away! Get out of here!
Don’t touch us!”
So they run away and wander around.
Then people among the nations say,
“They can’t stay here anymore.”
16The Lord himself has scattered them.
He doesn’t watch over them anymore.
No one shows the priests any respect.
No one honors the elders.
17And that’s not all. Our eyes grew tired.
We looked for help that never came.
We watched from our towers.
We kept looking for a nation that couldn’t save us.
18People hunted us down no matter where we went.
We couldn’t even walk in our streets.
Our end was near, so we only had a few days to live.
Our end had come.
19Those who were hunting us down were faster
than eagles in the sky.
They chased us over the mountains.
They hid and waited for us in the desert.
20Zedekiah, the Lord’s anointed king, was our last hope.
But he was caught in their traps.
We thought he would keep us safe.
We expected to continue living among the nations.
21People of Edom, be joyful.
You who live in the land of Uz, be glad.
But the cup of the Lord’s anger will also be passed to you.
Then you will become drunk.
Your clothes will be stripped off.
22People of Zion, the time for you to be punished
will come to an end.
The Lord won’t keep you away from your land any longer.
But he will punish your sin, people of Edom.
He will show everyone the evil things you have done.
1Hwɛ sɛnea sikakɔkɔɔ ayera ne hyerɛn no ni
Sikakɔkɔɔ ankasa na ho abiri saa!
Wɔatoto aboɔdemmo kronkron apete
wɔ abɔnten biara so.
2Hwɛ sɛnea Sion mmabarima a wodi mu
na anka wɔsom bo sɛ sikakɔkɔɔ no ayɛ,
mprempren wɔfa wɔn sɛ dɔte nkuku,
ɔnwemfo nsa ano adwuma!
3Mpo adompo yi wɔn nufu
ma wɔn mma num,
nanso me nkurɔfo ayɛ atirimɔdenfo
sɛ sohori a ɔwɔ sare so.
4Osukɔm nti, akokoaa tɛkrɛma
fam ne dodo mu;
mmofra no srɛ aduan,
nanso obiara mfa mma wɔn.
5Wɔn a na anka wodi nnuan pa no
ohia buruburoo aka wɔn wɔ mmɔnten so.
Wɔn a wɔde sirikyi tetew wɔn no
mprempren wɔdeda nso a wɔaboa ano so.
6Me nkurɔfo asotwe
so sen Sodom a
wotuu wɔn mpofirim no,
a wɔannya ɔboafo biara de.
7Na wɔn ahenemma ho twa sen sukyerɛmma,
na wɔnan sen nufusu,
na wɔn nipadua no bere, na ɛwɔ ahoɔden te sɛ abohemaa,
na wɔte sɛ hoabo.
8Nanso mprempren de, wobiri sen wusiw bɔtɔ;
na wonhu wɔn yiye wɔ mmɔnten so.
Wɔn were atwintwam wɔ wɔn nnompe so;
ho awo wosee sɛ abaa.
9Wɔn a wɔtotɔɔ wɔ afoa ano no ye koraa
sen wɔn a ɔkɔm kunkum wɔn;
ɔkɔm tware wɔn ma wowuwu,
esiane aduan a enni mfuw so nti.
10Mmea a wɔwɔ ayamhyehye
de wɔn nsa anoa wɔn ankasa mma,
ayɛ wɔn aduan,
bere a wɔsɛee me nkurɔfo no.
11Awurade ada nʼabufuwhyew nyinaa adi;
wahwie nʼabufuw a ano yɛ den no.
Ɔsɔɔ ogya ano wɔ Sion
ma ɛhyew ne fapem.
12Asase so ahemfo annye anni,
wiase mu nnipa nso annye anni
sɛ atamfo betumi ahyɛn
Yerusalem apon mu.
13Nanso esii, nʼadiyifo no bɔne
ne nʼasɔfo amumɔyɛ nti,
wɔn na wohwiee atreneefo mogya
guu wɔ kuropɔn no mu.
14Afei wɔkeka wɔ mmɔnten so
te sɛ nnipa a wɔn ani afura.
Mogya a ama wɔn ho agu fi no nti
obiara suro sɛ ɔde ne ho bɛka wɔn ntade.
15Nnipa teɛteɛɛ mu gu wɔn so se, “Mumfi ha nkɔ! Mo ho ntew!”
“Monkɔ, monkɔ! Mommfa mo ho nka yɛn.”
Sɛ woguan kɔnenam a
amanaman no mu nnipa ka se,
“Wɔrentumi ntena ha bio.”
16Awurade ankasa abɔ wɔn ahwete;
nʼani nni wɔn so bio.
Wɔmmfa nidi mma asɔfo,
na wɔn ani nsɔ mpanyimfo.
17Nea ɛka ho bio, yɛn ani anni ammoa yɛn,
yɛpɛɛ sɛ yebenya mmoa, nanso ɛyɛɛ ɔkwa;
yefi yɛn abantenten so de yɛn ani too
ɔman a wɔrentumi nnye yɛn so.
18Nnipa dii yɛn ntɛntɛnso wɔ yɛn anammɔntu mu,
enti yɛantumi annantew yɛn mmɔnten so.
Yɛn awiei bɛnee, na wɔkan yɛn nna,
efisɛ na yɛn awiei adu so.
19Yɛn ataafo ho yɛ hare
sen akɔre a wɔwɔ wim;
wɔtaa yɛn faa mmepɔw so
na wɔtɛw yɛn wɔ sare so.
20Nea Awurade asra no ngo, yɛn nkwa home ankasa no,
kɔtɔɔ wɔn mfiri mu.
Yegye dii sɛ ne nwini ase,
yebenya nkwa wɔ amanaman no mu.
21Di ahurusi na ma wʼani nnye, Edom Babea,
wo a wote Us asase so.
Wɔde kuruwa no bɛma wo nso bi;
wobɛbow na wɔabɔ wo adagyaw.
22Ɔbabea Sion, wʼasotwe bɛba awiei;
ɔremma wo nkɔ so ntena nnommum mu.
Nanso Ɔbabea Edom, obetua wo bɔne so ka
na wada wʼamumɔyɛ adi.
