Lamentations 5

1 Remember, O Lord, what has befallen us. Consider and look kindly upon our disgrace.

Ao Awurade, kae deɛ aba yɛn so; hwɛ, na hunu yɛn animguaseɛ.

2 Our inheritance has been turned over to foreigners; our houses to outsiders.

Wɔadane yɛn agyapadeɛ ama ahɔhoɔ, wɔde yɛn afie ama ananafoɔ.

3 We have become orphans without a father; our mothers are like widows.

Yɛayɛ nwisiaa na yɛnni agyanom, yɛn maamenom ayɛ sɛ akunafoɔ.

4 We paid for our drinking water. We acquired our wood for a price.

Ɛsɛ sɛ yɛtɔ nsuo a yɛnom; yɛbɛnya nnyina a, gye sɛ yɛtɔ.

5 We were dragged by our necks. Being weary, no rest was given to us.

Wɔn a wɔtaa yɛn no abɛn yɛn pɛɛ; Yɛabrɛ na yɛnnya ahomegyeɛ.

6 We have given our hand to Egypt and to the Assyrians, so that we may be satisfied with bread.

Yɛde yɛn ho maa Misraim ne Asiria sɛdeɛ yɛbɛnya aduane a ɛbɛso yɛn.

7 Our fathers have sinned, and are not. And we have carried their iniquities.

Yɛn agyanom yɛɛ bɔne, na wɔnni hɔ bio, na yɛn na wɔn asotwe abɛda yɛn so.

8 Servants have become rulers over us. There was no one to redeem us from their hand.

Nkoa di yɛn so, na obiara nni hɔ a ɔbɛgye yɛn afiri wɔn nsam.

9 We obtained our bread at the risk of our lives, before the face of the sword, in the wilderness.

Yɛde yɛn nkwa bɔ afɔdeɛ de pɛ yɛn anoduane, akofena a ɛwɔ ɛserɛ so no enti.

10 Our skin was burned, as if by an oven, before the face of the tempest of the famine.

Yɛn honam adɔ sɛ fononoo. Ɛkɔm ama huraeɛ abɔ yɛn.

11 They humiliated the women in Zion and the virgins in the cities of Judah.

Wɔato mmaa monnaa wɔ Sion, ne mmaabunu a wɔwɔ Yuda nkuro so.

12 The leaders were suspended by their hand. They were not ashamed before the faces of the elders.

Wɔkyekyere mmapɔmma nsa na wɔasɛn wɔn; wɔmmfa anidie mma mpanimfoɔ.

13 They have sexually abused the adolescents, and the children were corrupted in the wood.

Mmeranteɛ yɛ adwuma den wɔ ayuoyammoɔ so; na mmerantewaa nan toto wɔ nnyina duruduru ase.

14 The elders have ceased from the gates, the youths from the choir of the psalms.

Mpanimfoɔ ntena kuropɔn apono ano bio; mmeranteɛ agyae wɔn nnwontoɔ.

15 The gladness of our heart has failed, our singing has been turned into mourning.

Ahosɛpɛ afiri yɛn akoma mu; yɛn asa adane agyaadwotwa.

16 The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned.

Ahenkyɛ afiri yɛn tiri so. Yɛn ara, yɛnnue sɛ yɛayɛ bɔne!

17 Because of this, our heart became gloomy; for this reason, our eyes have been darkened:

Yei enti yɛn akoma atɔ piti, yeinom enti yɛn ani so ayɛ kusuu

18 because of mount Zion, because it was ruined. Foxes have wandered upon it.

wɔ Sion bepɔ a ada mpan na sakraman nenam soɔ no enti.

19 But you, O Lord, shall remain for eternity, your throne from generation to generation.

Wo, Ao Awurade, di ɔhene afebɔɔ; wʼahennwa firi awoɔ ntoatoasoɔ kɔsi awoɔ ntoatoasoɔ.

20 Why would you forget us forever? Why would you forsake us for a long time?

Adɛn enti na wo werɛ firi yɛn daa yi? Adɛn enti na wagya yɛn mmerɛ tenten mu yi?

21 Convert us, O Lord, to you, and we shall be converted. Renew our days, as from the beginning.

Ka yɛn bata wo ho bio, Ao, Awurade, na yɛatumi aba wo nkyɛn; yɛ yɛn nna foforɔ sɛ tete no

22 But you have utterly rejected us; you are vehemently angry against us.

agye sɛ wapo yɛn koraa anaa sɛ wo bo afu yɛn mmorosoɔ.