Patukkung 12
1 Kai loe to baktih hmuennawk nuiah anghoehaih ka tawn ai, tiah na thuihaih saning mah pha thuih ai vop moe, sethaih aninawk mah na pha thuih ai nathuem, na qoeng li naah, nang Sahkung Sithaw to panoek ah;
While you are still young, keep thinking about [God], who created you. Do that before [you are old] and you experience many troubles, during the years when you say “I no [longer] enjoy being alive.”
2 to baktih atue loe ni hoi ni aengh om mak ai, khrah hoi cakaeh doeh aang mak ai, kho angzoh moe, tamai anghmat phaenghaih atue ah om tih;
[When you become old], the light from the sun and moon and stars will [seem] dim [to you], and [it will seem that the rain] clouds [always] return [quickly] after it rains.
3 im toep kaminawk loe tasoeh o tih, thacak kaminawk loe kaengkuu o tih, kami tamsi pongah cang kae kaminawk loe anghak o tih, thokbuem hoiah khen kaminawk loe hnu o thai mak ai boeh;
Then your [arms that you use to protect] [MET] your bodies will shake/tremble, and your [legs that support] [MET] your bodies will become weak. Many of your [teeth that you use to] grind/chew [your food] will fall out, and your [eyes that you use to] look out of windows will not see clearly.
4 cang kaehhaih atuenh thazok boeh, to naah lampui taeng ih thoknawk to khaa o tih; tavaa ih lok thaih naah anih to angthawk tih, laasah nongpatanawk mah laa lok kahnaem ah laa to sah o tih;
Your [ears] [MET] will not hear the noise in the streets, and you will not be able to hear clearly the sound of people grinding grain with millstones. You will be awakened in the morning by hearing the birds singing/chirping, [but] you will not be able to hear well the songs that (the birds/people) sing.
5 nihcae mah kasang ahmuen to zii o tih, loklam ah zithaih to om tih, almond thing loe tadok tacawt ueloe, pakhuh loe nang han hmuen kazit ah om tih, koehhaih palungthin to thazok tih boeh; kami loe angmah ih dungzan im ah caeh boeh pongah, palungsae kaminawk loe loklam ah caeh o tih:
You will be afraid to be in high places and afraid of dangers on the roads that you walk on. [Your hair] will become [white like] [MET] the flowers of almond trees. [When you try to walk], you will drag yourself along like [MET] grasshoppers, and you will no longer desire [to have sex]. Then you will [die and] go to your eternal home, and people who will mourn for you will be in the streets.
6 to tih ai boeh loe sumkanglung aqui khramhaih maw, sui boengloeng koihhaih maw, tuibap tui sohhaih laom koihhaih maw, to tih ai boeh loe tuikung ah khok angkhaehhaih to om tih.
[Think much about God now, because] soon our lives will end, [like] [MET] silver chains or golden bowls that break easily, or like pitchers/jugs that are broken at the water fountain, or like broken pulleys at a well.
7 Maiphu loe a ohhaih long ah amlaem let ueloe, muithla loe paekkung Sithaw khaeah amlaem let tih.
Then our corpses will [decay and] become dirt again, and our spirits will return to God, the one who gave us our spirits.
8 Azom pui ni! azom pui ni! Hmuen boih loe azom pui ah ni oh, tiah patukkung mah thuih.
[So] I say [again] that it is difficult to understand why everything happens; everything is mysterious.
9 Patukkung loe palungha pongah, kaminawk hanah palunghahaih to patuk; ue, tha pathokhaih hoiah pakrong pacoengah, pop parai palunghahaih loknawk to a sak.
I was considered to be a very wise man, and I taught the people many things. I assembled/collected and wrote down many proverbs, and I carefully thought about and studied them.
10 Patukung loe tapom thaih koiah kaom loknawk to hnuk thai hanah pakrong, anih mah tarik ih loknawk loe toeng moe, loktang lok ah oh.
I searched for the right words, and what I have written is reliable and true.
11 Palungha kami ih loknawk loe, kamsum cung baktih, tuu toepkung mah tuu huih haih hanah patoh ih thingboeng, kaminawk mah thing nawnto takhing haih, sumdiknawk baktiah oh.
The things that [I and other] wise people say [teach people what they should do]; they are like [SIM] (goads/sharp sticks that people use to strike animals to direct where they should go). They are like [SIM] nails that stick out of pieces of wood. They are given to us by [God, who is like] [MET] our shepherd.
12 To pacoengah ka capa, to baktih loknawk hoi thuitaek ih kami ah om ah; cabu sakhaih loe boeng thai ai; kapop ah amtukhaih mah takpum angphosak.
[So], my son, pay careful attention to what I have written, and choose carefully what you read that others have written, [because] writing proverbs/books is endless, and [trying to] study them all will cause you to become exhausted.
13 Sangqum boih ah lok pakhaphaih loe hae tiah oh; Sithaw to zii ah loe, a paek ih loknawk to pakuem ah; hae loe kami mah hing thung sak han ih tok ah oh.
[Now] you have heard all [that I have told you], and here is the conclusion: Revere God, and obey his commandments, because those commandments summarize everything that people should do.
14 Kasae maw, kahoih maw, tamquta hoiah sak ih hmuen baktih, sak ih hmuennawk baktih toengah Sithaw mah lokcaek tih.
And do not forget that God will judge everything that we do, good things and bad things, [even] things that we do secretly.
