Proverbs 23
1 When you sit to eat with a ruler, Diligently consider that which [is] before you,
Unapoketi kula pamoja na mtawala, angalia kwa uangalifu kilichopo mbele yako,
2 And you have put a knife to your throat, If you [are] a man of appetite.
na kama ni mtu unayependa kula chakula sana weka kisu kooni.
3 Have no desire to his delicacies, seeing it [is] lying food.
Usitamani vinono vyake maana ni chakula cha uongo.
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.
Usifanye kazi sana ili kupata mali; uwe na busara ya kutosha ili ujue wakati wa kuacha.
5 For wealth makes wings to itself, It flies to the heavens as an eagle.
Je utaruhusu macho yako yaangaze juu yake? Itaondoka, maana itawaa mabawa kama tai na kuruka angani.
6 Do not eat the bread of an evil eye, And have no desire to his delicacies,
Usile chakula cha yule mwenye jicho baya- na usiwe na shauku ya vinono vyake,
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.
maana ni mtu mwenye kuhesabu gharama ya chakula. “Kula na kunywa!” anakuambia, lakini moyo wake haupo pamoja nawe.
8 You vomit up your morsel you have eaten, And have marred your words that [are] sweet.
Utatapika kiasi kidogo ulichokula na utakuwa umepoteza sifa zako njema.
9 Do not speak in the ears of a fool, For he treads on the wisdom of your words.
Usiongee katika usikivu wa mpumbavu, maana atadharau hekima ya maneno yako.
10 Do not remove a border of ancient times, And do not enter into fields of the fatherless,
Usihamishe jiwe la mpaka wa kale au kunyang'anya mashamba ya yatima,
11 For their Redeemer [is] strong, He pleads their cause with you.
maana Mkombozi wao ni imara na atatetea kesi yao dhidi yako.
12 Bring your heart to instruction, And your ear to sayings of knowledge.
Elekeza moyo wako katika mafundisho na masikio yako kwenye maneno ya maarifa.
13 Do not withhold discipline from a youth, When you strike him with a rod he does not die.
Usizuie kuadilisha mtoto, maana ukimchapa kwa fimbo, hatakufa.
Ni wewe unayepaswa kumchapa kwa fimbo na kuikoa nafsi yake kuzimu. (Sheol h7585)
15 My son, if your heart has been wise, My heart rejoices, even mine,
Mwanangu, kama moyo wako una busara, basi moyo wangu utafurahi pia;
16 And my reins exult when your lips speak uprightly.
sehemu zangu ndani kabisa zitafurahi sana midomo yako inaponena haki.
17 Do not let your heart be envious at sinners, But—in the fear of YHWH all the day.
Usiruhusu moyo wako kuwahusudu wenye dhambi, lakini endelea kumcha Yehova siku zote.
18 For is there a posterity? Then your hope is not cut off.
Hakika tumaini lako halitaondolewa na siku zako za hapo baadaye.
19 Hear, my son, and be wise, And make your heart blessed in the way,
Sikia- wewe! - mwanangu, na uwe mwenye busara na uelekeze moyo wako katika njia.
20 Do not become drunk with wine, Among gluttonous ones of flesh,
Usishirikiane pamoja na walevi, au pamoja na walaji wa nyama walafi,
21 For the drunkard and glutton become poor, And drowsiness clothes with rags.
maana mlevi na mlafi wanakuwa masikini na usingizi utawavika kwa matambara.
22 Listen to your father, who begot you, And do not despise your mother when she has become old.
Msikilize baba yako ambaye alikuzaa na usimdharau mama yako wakati akiwa mzee.
23 Buy truth, and do not sell, Wisdom, and instruction, and understanding,
Inunue kweli, lakini usiiuze; nunua hekima, nidhamu, na ufahamu.
24 The father of the righteous rejoices greatly, The begetter of the wise rejoices in him.
Baba yake mwenye haki atafurahia sana, na yule amzaaye mtoto mwenye busara atamfurahia.
25 Your father and your mother rejoice, Indeed, she bearing you is joyful.
Mfurahishe baba yako na mama yako na yule aliyekuzaa afurahie.
26 Give, my son, your heart to me, And let your eyes watch my ways.
Mwanangu, nipe moyo wako na macho yako yachunguze njia zangu.
27 For a harlot [is] a deep ditch, And a strange woman [is] a narrow pit.
Maana malaya ni shimo refu, na mke wa mume mwingine ni kisima chembamba.
28 She also, as catching prey, lies in wait, And she increases the treacherous among men.
Anavizia kama mnyang'anyi na huongeza idadi ya wadanganyifu miongoni mwa wanadamu.
29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaint? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes?
Nani mwenye taabu? Nani mwenye huzuni? Nani mwenye mapigano? Nani mwenye malalamiko? Nani mwenye majeraha bila sababu? Nani mwenye macho mekundu?
30 Those lingering by the wine, Those going in to search out mixed wine.
Ni wale ambao huzengea kwenye mvinyo, wale wanaojaribu kuchanganya mvinyo.
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.
Usiutazame mvinyo ukiwa mwekundu, wakati unametameta kwenye kikombe na kutelemka kwa uraini.
32 Its latter end—it bites as a serpent, And it stings as a viper.
Mwisho wake unauma kama nyoka na sumu yake kama kifutu.
33 Your eyes see strange women, And your heart speaks perverse things.
Macho yako yataona vitu vigeni na moyo wako utatamka vitu vya ukaidi.
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.
Utakuwa kama anayelala kwenye bahari au anayelala juu ya mlingoti. “
35 “They struck me, I have not been sick, They beat me, I have not known. When I awake—I seek it yet again!”
Wamenipiga,” utasema, “lakini sikuumia. Wamenichapa, lakini sikuwa na hisia. Nitaamka lini? Nitatafuta kinywaji kingine.”
