< Proverbs 23 >
1 When you sit to eat with a ruler, Diligently consider that which [is] before you,
Nxa uhlalela ukudla lesiphathamandla, qaphelisa lokuqaphelisa okuphambi kwakho.
2 And you have put a knife to your throat, If you [are] a man of appetite.
Ubeke ingqamu emphinjeni wakho uba uyisiminzi.
3 Have no desire to his delicacies, seeing it [is] lying food.
Ungafisi izibondlo zaso, ngoba ziyikudla kwamanga.
4 Do not labor to make wealth, Cease from your own understanding, Do you cause your eyes to fly on it? Then it is not.
Ungatshikatshikeli ukunotha; pheza ekuqedisiseni kwakho.
5 For wealth makes wings to itself, It flies to the heavens as an eagle.
Uzandizisa yini amehlo akho kokungekho? Ngoba kuzazenzela lokuzenzela izimpiko njengokhozi oluphaphela emazulwini.
6 Do not eat the bread of an evil eye, And have no desire to his delicacies,
Ungadli ukudla kolelihlo elibi, ungafisi izibondlo zakhe.
7 For as he has thought in his soul, so he [is]. “Eat and drink,” he says to you, And his heart [is] not with you.
Ngoba njengoba ecabangile emphefumulweni wakhe, unjalo. Uzakuthi: Dlana unathe; kodwa inhliziyo yakhe kayilawe.
8 You vomit up your morsel you have eaten, And have marred your words that [are] sweet.
Ucezu oludlileyo uzaluhlanza, wone amazwi akho amnandi.
9 Do not speak in the ears of a fool, For he treads on the wisdom of your words.
Ungakhulumi endlebeni zoyisithutha, ngoba uzadelela inhlakanipho yamazwi akho.
10 Do not remove a border of ancient times, And do not enter into fields of the fatherless,
Ungatshedisi isikhonkwane esidala somngcele; ungangeni emasimini ezintandane;
11 For their Redeemer [is] strong, He pleads their cause with you.
ngoba uMhlengi wazo ulamandla; yena uzamela udaba lwazo kuwe.
12 Bring your heart to instruction, And your ear to sayings of knowledge.
Beka inhliziyo yakho ekufundisweni, lezindlebe zakho emazwini olwazi.
13 Do not withhold discipline from a youth, When you strike him with a rod he does not die.
Ungagodleli umntwana isijeziso; nxa umtshaya ngoswazi kayikufa.
14 You strike him with a rod, And you deliver his soul from Sheol. (Sheol )
Wena uzamtshaya ngoswazi, ukhulule umphefumulo wakhe esihogweni. (Sheol )
15 My son, if your heart has been wise, My heart rejoices, even mine,
Ndodana yami, uba inhliziyo yakho ihlakanipha, inhliziyo yami izathokoza, yebo eyami;
16 And my reins exult when your lips speak uprightly.
lezinso zami zizajabula ekukhulumeni kwendebe zakho izinto eziqondileyo.
17 Do not let your heart be envious at sinners, But—in the fear of YHWH all the day.
Inhliziyo yakho kayingahawukeli izoni; kodwa bana ekwesabeni iNkosi lonke usuku.
18 For is there a posterity? Then your hope is not cut off.
Ngoba isibili kukhona umvuzo, lomlindelo wakho kawuyikuqunywa.
19 Hear, my son, and be wise, And make your heart blessed in the way,
Lalela wena, ndodana yami, uhlakaniphe, uqondise inhliziyo yakho endleleni.
20 Do not become drunk with wine, Among gluttonous ones of flesh,
Ungabi phakathi kwabanathi bewayini, phakathi kwezihwaba zenyama.
21 For the drunkard and glutton become poor, And drowsiness clothes with rags.
Ngoba isidakwa lesihwaba sizakuba ngumyanga, lokuwozela kugqokisa amadabudabu.
22 Listen to your father, who begot you, And do not despise your mother when she has become old.
Lalela uyihlo owakuzalayo, ungamdeleli unyoko esemdala.
23 Buy truth, and do not sell, Wisdom, and instruction, and understanding,
Thenga iqiniso, ungalithengisi; inhlakanipho, lemfundiso, lokuqedisisa.
24 The father of the righteous rejoices greatly, The begetter of the wise rejoices in him.
Uyise wolungileyo uzathaba lokuthaba; lozala ohlakaniphileyo uzathokoza ngaye.
25 Your father and your mother rejoice, Indeed, she bearing you is joyful.
Uyihlo lonyoko kabathokoze, lokuzeleyo kathabe.
26 Give, my son, your heart to me, And let your eyes watch my ways.
Ndodana yami, ngiphe inhliziyo yakho, lamehlo akho kawananzelele indlela zami.
27 For a harlot [is] a deep ditch, And a strange woman [is] a narrow pit.
Ngoba iwule lingumgodi otshonayo, lowesifazana owemzini ungumthombo ongumcingo.
28 She also, as catching prey, lies in wait, And she increases the treacherous among men.
Laye ucathama njengomphangi, andise abangathembekanga phakathi kwabantu.
29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaint? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes?
Ngubani olo: Maye? Ngubani olo: Wo? Ngubani olenkani? Ngubani olesililo? Ngubani olamanxeba ngeze? Ngubani olamehlo abomvu?
30 Those lingering by the wine, Those going in to search out mixed wine.
Yilabo abalibala ewayinini, yilabo abazedinga iwayini elixutshanisiweyo.
31 Do not see wine when it shows itself red, When it gives its color in the cup, It goes up and down through the upright.
Ungakhangeli iwayini, lapho lizibonakalisa libomvu, nxa linika umbala walo enkomitshini, lihamba liqondile.
32 Its latter end—it bites as a serpent, And it stings as a viper.
Ekucineni kwalo liluma njengenyoka, lilume njengebululu.
33 Your eyes see strange women, And your heart speaks perverse things.
Amehlo akho azabona abesifazana bemzini, lenhliziyo yakho ikhulume izinto eziphambeneyo.
34 And you have been as one lying down in the heart of the sea, And as one lying down on the top of a mast.
Yebo, uzakuba njengolala enhliziyweni yolwandle, lanjengolala esihlokweni sensika yomkhumbi.
35 “They struck me, I have not been sick, They beat me, I have not known. When I awake—I seek it yet again!”
Bangitshayile, kangizwanga buhlungu; bangidutshuzile, kangikunanzanga. Ngizavuka nini? Ngiphinde ngilidinge futhi.