Masese 5
1 Mwana na ngai, zala na bokebi na bwanya na ngai, mpe pesa litoyi na yo na mayele na ngai,
My son, attend unto my wisdom; to my understanding incline thou thy ear:
2 mpo ete ozala na bososoli, mpe bibebu na yo ebomba boyebi.
That thou mayest observe discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.
3 Pamba te bibebu ya mwasi ya ndumba ebimisaka mafuta ya nzoyi, mpe lolemo na ye ezali elengi lokola mafuta;
For as of fine honey drop the lips of an adulterous woman, and smoother than oil is her palate;
4 kasi na suka na nyonso, azali bololo lokola masanga ya bololo, songe lokola mopanga ya minu mibale.
But her end is bitter as wormwood, it is sharp as a two-edged sword.
Her feet go down to death, her steps take firm hold on the nether world: (Sheol h7585)
6 Amitungisaka te mpo na nzela ya bomoi, alandaka nzela oyo ayebi te esika nini ekosuka.
So that she cannot balance the path of life; her tracks are unsteady, and she knoweth it not.
7 Sik’oyo mwana na ngai, yoka ngai, kopesa maloba na ngai mokongo te;
And now, O ye children, hearken unto me, and depart not from the sayings of my mouth.
8 longola nzela na yo pembeni na ye mpe kopusana te liboso ya ndako na ye,
Remove far from her thy way, and come not nigh to the door of her house;
9 noki te akoya kokaba lokumu na yo epai ya bato mosusu, mpe mibu na yo epai ya moto mabe;
That thou mayest not give up unto others thy vigor, and thy years unto the cruel;
10 noki te bapaya bakotonda na biloko oyo yo omoneli pasi, mpe mbuma ya mosala na yo ekokende na ndako ya mopaya;
That strangers may not satisfy themselves with thy strength, and with thy exertions, in the house of an alien:
11 noki te okokoma kolelalela na suka tango nzoto na yo ekolemba mpe makasi na yo ekosila,
While thou moanest at thy end, when thy flesh and thy body are coming to their end,
12 mpe oloba: « Mpo na nini nayinaki mateya, mpe motema na ngai eboyaki koyoka toli?
And thou sayest, How have I hated correction, and how hath my heart rejected reproof;
13 Mpo na nini nayokaki te mongongo ya balakisi na ngai mpe napesaki litoyi te epai ya bato oyo bazalaki koteya ngai?
While I hearkened not to the voice of my instructors, and to my teachers I inclined not my ear;
14 Etikalaki kaka moke ete nakweya na mabe ya mozindo, kati na Lingomba ya bato ya Nzambe. »
But little more was wanting, and I had been in all [kinds of] unhappiness in the midst of the congregation and assembly.
15 Melaka mayi ya libulu na yo moko, oyo ezali kobima penza na libulu na yo.
Drink water out of thy own cistern, and running waters out of thy own well.
16 Boni, bitima na yo esopa penza mayi na libanda to miluka na yo esopa penza mayi na balabala?
So will thy springs overflow abroad; and in the open streets will be thy rivulets of water;
17 Tika ete ezala kaka mpo na yo moko, kasi kokabola yango te na bapaya.
They will be thy own only, and not those of strangers with thee.
18 Tika ete etima na yo epambolama, mpe sepela na mwasi ya bolenge na yo,
Thy fountain will be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth, —
19 oyo azali lokola mbuli kitoko ya mwasi, lokola mboloko ya mafuta. Tika ete tango nyonso, mabele na ye etondisaka yo na esengo, mpe bolingo na ye elangwisaka yo!
The lovely gazelle and the graceful chamois: let her bosom satisfy thee abundantly at all times; with her love be thou ravished continually.
20 Mwana na ngai ya mobali, mpo na nini kokufela kolinga mwasi ya ndumba? Mpo na nini kosepela kosakana na mabele ya mwasi mosusu?
And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with an adulteress, and embrace the bosom of an alien woman?
21 Solo, nzela ya moto ezali liboso ya Yawe, mpe ayekolaka malamu makambo nyonso oyo moto asalaka.
For before the eyes of the Lord are the ways of man, and all his tracks doth he weigh in the balance.
22 Moto mabe akokangama kaka na motambo ya mabe na ye moko mpe na singa ya lisumu na ye,
His own iniquities will truly catch the wicked, and with the cords of his sin will he be held firmly.
23 akokufa likolo ya bozoba, mpe liboma na ye ekobungisa ye nzela.
He will indeed die for want of correction; and through the abundance of his folly will he sink into error.
