Phungdeikung 7
1 Minhawinae teh hmuitui satui hlak ahawi. Duenae hnin hai khenae hnin hlak bet ahawi.
A good name is better than precious ointments, and a day of death is better than a day of birth.
2 Ro im cei e heh pawi koe cei e hlak ahawi. Bangkongtetpawiteh, tami pueng ni ro im vah lam a pâpout awh. Kahring lahun e naw ni hai a lungthin thungvah a pâkuem awh han.
It is better to go to a house of mourning, than to a house of feasting. For in the former, we are admonished about the end of all things, so that the living consider what may be in the future.
3 Panui e hlakvah lungmathoe e bet ahawi. Bangkongtetpawiteh, lungmathoenae ni lungthin bet ahawi sak.
Anger is better than laughter. For through the sadness of the countenance, the soul of one who offends may be corrected.
4 Lungkaangnaw e lungthin teh ro im vah ao. Tamipathunaw e lungthin teh pawi im vah ao.
The heart of the wise is a place of mourning, and the heart of the foolish is a place of rejoicing.
5 Tamipathunaw e la sak lawk thai hlakvah, lungkaangnaw e tounnae lawk tarawi e bet ahawi.
It is better to be corrected by a wise man, than to be deceived by the false praise of the foolish.
6 Bangkongtetpawiteh, tamipathunaw e panuinae teh hlaam rahim vah pâkhing ka kang e lawk hoi a kâvan. Hot naw hai ahrawnghrang doeh.
For, like the crackling of thorns burning under a pot, so is the laughter of the foolish. But this, too, is emptiness.
7 Atangcalah, rektapnae ni a lungkaangnaw a pathu sak. Tadawngnae ni lungthin a rawk sak.
A false accusation troubles the wise man and saps the strength of his heart.
8 Apoutnae teh kamtawngnae hlak ahawi, a lungkasaw e tami teh a lungkalen e tami hlakvah ahawi.
The end of a speech is better than the beginning. Patience is better than arrogance.
9 Lungkhuek han totouh na lungduem sak hanh. Lungkhueknae teh kapathunaw e lungthung vah hmuen ouk a la.
Do not be quickly moved to anger. For anger resides in the sinews of the foolish.
10 Bangkongmaw yampa e atueng teh atu e atueng hlak ahawi telah na pacei awh hanh. Hottelah na pacei pawiteh lungangnae lahoi pacei e na hoeh.
You should not say: “What do you think is the reason that the former times were better than they are now?” For this type of question is foolish.
11 Lungangnae teh râw patetlah ahawi. Kanî ka hmawt e naw koe hnokahawi a sak.
Wisdom with riches is more useful and more advantageous, for those who see the sun.
12 Bangkongtetpawiteh, lungangnae ni na rawngkhan, tangka ni hai na rawngkhan thai. Thoumthainae teh banghloimaw aphu ao. Thoumthainae ka coe e tami teh hringnae hai a coe.
For as wisdom protects, so also does money protect. But learning and wisdom have this much more: that they grant life to one who possesses them.
13 Cathut ni hno a sak e hah pouk haw, a longkawi sak e teh apinimaw a palan thai han.
Consider the works of God, that no one is able to correct whomever he has despised.
14 Yawhawinae na coe nah lunghawi awh. Rucatnae na kâhmo nah kâpouk awh. Tami ni ka tho hane kawi a panue nahanlah Cathut ni hawinae hoi roedengnae kâletta lah a poe.
In good times, enjoy good things, but beware of an evil time. For just as God has established the one, so also the other, in order that man may not find any just complaint against him.
15 Ayawmlah ka onae atueng nah hno pueng ka hmu thai toe. Tami kalan ni a lannae dawk a sung e tie hoi, tami kahawihoeh ni ahawihoehnae, dawk a hringsaw e hai thoseh ka hmu.
I also saw this, in the days of my vanity: a just man perishing in his justice, and an impious man living a long time in his malice.
16 Hloi lan hanh, hloi lungang hanh. Bangkongmaw nama e hawinae hah raphoe hanelah na ngai.
Do not try to be overly just, and do not try to be more wise than is necessary, lest you become stupid.
17 Hloi mathout hanh, hloi pathu hanh. Bangkongmaw atueng a pha hoehnahlan due hane na ngai.
Do not act with great impiety, and do not choose to be foolish, lest you die before your time.
18 Hete lawk heh pâkuem hanelah ahawi. Thada hanh, Cathut ka taket e tami teh hno pueng dawk hoi a hlout han.
It is good for you to support a just man. Furthermore, you should not withdraw your hand from him, for whoever fears God, neglects nothing.
19 Khopui thung kaawm e ukkung hra touh hlak, tami lungkaang buet touh e lungangnae a tha aohnawn.
Wisdom has strengthened the wise more than ten princes of a city.
20 Yon nuen laipalah hnokahawi ka sak e tami a nuen kahawi e talai van buet touh hai awm hoeh.
But there is no just man on earth, who does good and does not sin.
21 Ayâ ni a dei e pueng hah pâkuem hanh. Hottelah na tetpawiteh, na san e thoebo lawk na thai han.
So then, do not attach your heart to every word that is spoken, lest perhaps you may hear your servant speaking ill of you.
22 Nama roeroe ni atuhoitu, ayânaw thoe na bo e hah na lung hoi na panue.
For your conscience knows that you, too, have repeatedly spoken evil of others.
23 Hetnaw pueng heh, kai ni lungangnae hoi ka noumcai toe. Ka lungang han toe ka ti navah, lungangnae hoi hoe ka kâhla.
I have tested everything in wisdom. I have said: “I will be wise.” And wisdom withdrew farther from me,
24 Kahlat ni teh kadung poung e hno hah apinimaw a tawng vaiteh a hmu thai han.
so much more than it was before. Wisdom is very profound, so who shall reveal her?
25 Lungangnae hoi akongnaw hah ka tawng teh panue hanelah thoseh, povangtanae hoi pathunae panue nahanelah thoseh, ka lung ni a kâyawm toe.
I have examined all things in my soul, so that I may know, and consider, and seek out wisdom and reason, and so that I may recognize the impiety of the foolish, and the error of the imprudent.
26 Tangkhek hoi tamlawk lah kaawm e napui e lungthin teh duenae hlak bet akhahnawn tie ka panue. Cathut a lung ka youk lah kaawm e ni duengdoeh hote napui kut dawk hoi a hlout han. Yon ouk ka sak e teh a kâman han.
And I have discovered a woman more bitter than death: she who is like the snare of a hunter, and whose heart is like a net, and whose hands are like chains. Whoever pleases God shall flee from her. But whoever is a sinner shall be seized by her.
27 Phungdeikung ti e teh kai ni ka tawng teh ka hmu hoeh rae hah hmu hanelah buet touh hnukkhu buet touh a pâphue.
Behold, Ecclesiastes said, I have discovered these things, one after another, in order that I might discover the explanation
28 Tongpa thong touh thung dawk buet touh ka hmu toe. Napui thong touh thung buet touh boehai ka hmawt hoeh.
which my soul still seeks and has not found. One man among a thousand, I have found; a woman among them all, I have not found.
29 Kai ni ka hmu e buet touh teh, Cathut ni tami hah tamikalan lah a sak ei teh, taminaw ni moikapap e pouknae hah a tawng awh.
This alone have I discovered: that God made man righteous, and yet he has adulterated himself with innumerable questions. Who is so great as the wise? And who has understood the meaning of the word?
