Lamentations 2

1 ALEPH. O how the Lord has covered the daughter of Zion with gloom in his fury! O how he has thrown down from heaven to earth the famous one of Israel, and he has not remembered his footstool in the day of his fury.

Sɛnea Awurade de nʼabufuwhyew mununkum akata Ɔbabea Sion so ni? Watow Israel anuonyam afi ɔsoro abɛhwe fam; wankae ne nan ntiaso wɔ nʼabufuw da no.

2 BETH. The Lord has cast down, and he has not been lenient, with all the beauties of Jacob. In his fury, he has destroyed the fortifications of the virgin of Judah, and he has thrown them down to the ground. He has polluted the kingdom and its leaders.

Awurade annya ahummɔbɔ na wamene Yakob atenae nyinaa; nʼabufuwhyew mu, wadwiriw Yuda Babea abandennen no agu fam. Wagu nʼahenni ne ne mmapɔmma ho fi.

3 GHIMEL. In the anger of his fury, he has broken the entire horn of Israel. He has drawn back his right hand before the face of the enemy. And he has kindled within Jacob a flaming fire, devouring all around.

Ɔde abufuwhyew atwitwa Israel mmɛn nyinaa. Wayi ne bammɔ wɔ bere a atamfo no reba. Wasɔ wɔ Yakob mu sɛ ogyatannaa a ɛhyew biribiara a atwa ho ahyia.

4 DALETH. He has bent his bow like an enemy. He has fixed his right hand like an adversary. And he has cut down all that was beautiful to behold in the tabernacle of the daughter of Zion. He has poured out his indignation like fire.

Wapema ne bɛmma sɛ ɔtamfo; ne nsa nifa ayɛ krado. Te sɛ ɔtamfo no, wakunkum wɔn a wɔyɛ fɛ wɔ ani so nyinaa; wahwie nʼabufuwhyew sɛ ogya agu Ɔbabea Sion ntamadan so.

5 HE. The Lord has become like an enemy. He has thrown down Israel. He has thrown down all of his defenses. He has torn apart his fortifications. And he has filled the daughter of Judah with humbled men and humbled women.

Awurade ayɛ sɛ ɔtamfo; wamene Israel. Wamene nʼahemfi nyinaa asɛe nʼabandennen. Wama awerɛhowdi ne agyaadwotwa adɔɔso ama Yuda Babea.

6 VAU. And he has torn apart her tent like a garden. He has demolished her tabernacle. In Zion, the Lord has delivered feast and Sabbath into oblivion, and king and priest into disgrace, and into the indignation of his fury.

Wama nʼatenae ada mpan sɛ turo; wasɛe nʼaguabɔbea. Awurade ama Sion werɛ afi nʼafahyɛ ne homenna; nʼabufuwhyew mu no wabu ɔhene ne ɔsɔfo animtiaa.

7 ZAIN. The Lord has pushed away his own altar. He has cursed his own sanctuary. He has delivered the walls of its towers into the hand of the enemy. They have made a noise in the house of the Lord, as if on the day of a solemnity.

Awurade apo nʼafɔremuka na wagyaa ne kronkronbea mu. Ɔde nʼahemfi afasu ahyɛ nʼatamfo nsa. Wɔteɛ mu wɔ Awurade fi te sɛ afahyɛ da.

8 HETH. The Lord has decided to tear down the wall of the daughter of Zion. He has stretched out his measuring line, and he has not turned away his hand from perdition. And the rampart has mourned, and with the wall it has been torn apart.

Awurade sii nʼadwene pi sɛ ɔbɛsɛe Ɔbabea Sion fasu a atwa ne ho ahyia no. Ɔde susuhama too ho na wannyae ɔsɛe no. Ɔmaa pie ne afasu dii abooboo; wɔn nyinaa sɛee.

9 TETH. Her gates have been buried in the ground. He has ruined and crushed its bars. Her king and her princes are with the Gentiles. There is no law, and her prophets have found no vision from the Lord.

Nʼapon amem fam; wɔn adaban nso, wabubu mu asɛe no. Ne hene ne ne mmapɔmma, watwa wɔn asu kɔ amanaman no mu, mmara nni hɔ bio, na nʼadiyifo nnya anisoadehu a efi Awurade hɔ bio.

10 JOD. The elders of the daughter of Zion have become idle; they sit on the ground. They have sprinkled their heads with ashes. They have been wrapped with haircloth. The virgins of Jerusalem have cast their heads down to the ground.

Ɔbabea Sion mpanyimfo tete fam ayɛ komm; wɔde mfutuma agu wɔn tirim afurafura atweaatam. Yerusalem mmabaa asisi wɔn ti ase.

11 CAPH. My eyes have exhausted their tears. My internal organs have become disturbed. My liver has been poured out on the earth, over the grief of the daughter of my people, when the little ones and the infants passed away in the streets of the town.

Mʼani rentumi nnyae nisutew, me yafunu mu retwa me, me koma retew atɔ fam, efisɛ wɔasɛe me nkurɔfo, efisɛ mmofra ne mmotafowa totɔ piti wɔ kuropɔn no mmɔnten so.

12 LAMED. They said to their mothers, “Where is the wheat and the wine?” when they fell like the wounded in the streets of the city, when they breathed out their lives into the bosoms of their mothers.

Wobisa wɔn nanom se, “Ɛhe na brodo ne nsa wɔ?” Bere a wɔtotɔ beraw sɛ apirafo wɔ kuropɔn no mmɔnten so, bere a wɔn nkwa resa wɔ wɔn nanom abasa so.

13 MEM. To what shall I compare you, or to what shall I liken you, O daughter of Jerusalem? To what shall I equate you, so as to console you, O virgin daughter of Zion? For your destruction is as great as the sea. Who will cure you?

Asɛm bɛn na metumi aka ama wo? Dɛn ho na metumi de wo atoto, Ɔbabea Yerusalem? Dɛn na metumi de asusuw wo, de akyekye wo werɛ, Sion Babea Ɔbabun? Wʼapirakuru so sɛ po. Hena na obetumi asa wo yare?

14 NUN. Your prophets have seen false and foolish things for you. And they have not laid open your iniquity, so as to provoke you to repentance. Yet they have seen for you false revelations and banishments.

Wʼadiyifo anisoadehu yɛ atoro a so nni mfaso; wɔanna mo amumɔyɛ adi ansiw mo nnommumfa ano. Nkɔmhyɛ a wɔde maa mo no yɛ atoro ne nnaadaa.

15 SAMECH. All those who passed by the way have clapped their hands over you. They have hissed and shook their heads over the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, “Is this the city of perfect dignity, the joy of all the earth?”

Wɔn a wotwa mu wo kwan so nyinaa bobɔ wɔn nsam gu wo so; wodi wo ho fɛw na wɔwosow wɔn ti gu Yerusalem Babea so ka se, “Eyi ne kuropɔn a na wɔfrɛ no ahoɔfɛ a edi mu no? Asase nyinaa anigyede no ni?”

16 PHE. All your enemies have opened their mouth over you. They have hissed and gnashed their teeth, and they said: “We will devour her. Yes, this is the day we waited for. We have found it, we have seen it.”

Wʼatamfo nyinaa baa wɔn anom tɛtrɛɛ tia wo; wɔserew na wɔtwɛre wɔn se na wɔka se, “Yɛamene no. Da a na yɛretwɛn no ni; Yɛatena ase ahu.”

17 AIN. The Lord has done what he decided to do. He has fulfilled his word, which he instructed since the days of antiquity. He has destroyed, and he has not been lenient, and he has caused the enemy to rejoice over you, and he has exalted the horn of your adversaries.

Awurade ayɛ nea ɔhyehyɛe; wama nʼasɛm a ɔhyɛɛ dedaada no aba mu. Watu wo agu a wanhu wo mmɔbɔ, wama ɔtamfo no ani agye wama wʼatamfo no mmɛn so.

18 SADE. Their heart cried out to the Lord from the walls of the daughter of Zion. Let tears run down like a torrent throughout the day and the night. Do not give rest to yourself, and do not allow the pupil of your eye to cease.

Nnipa no koma su frɛ Awurade. Ɔbabea Sion afasu, momma mo nusu nsen sɛ asubɔnten awia ne anadwo; munnye mo ahome momma mo ani nso nnya ɔhome.

19 COPH. Rise up. Give praise in the night, in the first of the watches. Pour out your heart like water before the sight of the Lord. Lift up your hands to him on behalf of the souls of your little ones, who have passed away from famine at the head of all the crossroads.

Sɔre, su dennen anadwo, ɔdasu mu mfiase; hwie wo koma mu nsɛm sɛ nsu gu Awurade anim. Ma wo nsa so kyerɛ no wo mma nkwa nti, wɔn a ɔkɔm ama wɔatotɔ beraw wɔ mmɔnten so.

20 RES. O Lord, see and consider those whom you have made into such a vintage. So then, shall women eat their own fruit, little ones measured by the palm of the hand? Shall priest and prophet be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord?

“Hwɛ na dwene ho, Awurade: Hena na wode no afa saa ɔkwan yi so pɛn? Ɛsɛ sɛ mmea we wɔn yafunumma nam ana, mma a wɔahwɛ wɔn? Ɛsɛ sɛ wokunkum ɔsɔfo ne odiyifo wɔ Awurade kronkronbea ana?

21 SIN. The boy and the old man lie down on the ground outside. My virgins and my youths have fallen by the sword. You have slain them in the day of your fury. You have struck down, and you have not shown pity.

“Mmofra ne mpanyin da adabum wɔ mmɔnten so mfutuma mu so, me mmerante ne mmabaa atotɔ wɔ afoa ano. Woakum wɔn wɔ wʼabufuwda; woayam wɔn na woannya ahummɔbɔ.

22 THAU. You have called, as if to a day of solemnity, those who would terrify me all around. And there was no one, in the day of the fury of the Lord, who escaped or was left behind. Those whom I educated and nourished, my enemy has consumed.

“Sɛnea wotoo wo nsa frɛ wɔ aponto da no, saa ara na wofrɛfrɛɛ amanehunu fii afanan nyinaa tiaa me. Awurade abufuw da no, obiara anguan na anka obiara: wɔn a mehwɛɛ wɔn na metetew wɔn no, me tamfo adwerɛw wɔn.”