< Hopa 24 >
1 He aha nga wa te whakapurangatia ai e te Kaha Rawa? A he aha hoki te hunga e mohio ana ki a ia te kite ai i ona ra?
Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty, do they that know him not see his days?
2 Tera etahi e whakaneke atu ana i nga rohe; e kahakina ana e ratou nga kahui, whangaia iho e ratou.
Some remove the landmarks; they violently take away flocks, and feed thereof.
3 E aia atu ana e ratou te kaihe a nga pani, e tangohia ana hei taunaha te kau a te pouaru.
They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow's ox for a pledge.
4 Whakapekaia ketia ana e ratou nga rawakore i te ara: huihui ana nga ware o te whenua, piri ana.
They turn the needy out of the way: the poor of the earth hide themselves together.
5 Nana, rite tonu ratou ki te kaihe mahoao i te koraha, haere atu ana ki ta ratou mahi, e whai ana ki te kai; hei kai te koraha ma ratou, ma a ratou tamariki.
Behold, as wild asses in the desert, go they forth to their work; rising early for a prey: the wilderness yields food for them and for their children.
6 E kotia ana e ratou ta ratou witi i te mara; e kohia ana e ratou nga waina a te hunga tutu.
They reap every one his corn in the field: and they gather the vintage of the wicked.
7 E takoto tahanga ana ratou i te po roa, kahore he kakahu, kahore hoki he hipoki i te maeke.
They cause the naked to lodge without clothing, that they have no covering in the cold.
8 Maku iho ratou i te awha o nga maunga, a, ka kore he rerenga, ka awhi i te kamaka.
They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for lack of a shelter.
9 Tera te hunga, e tangohia mai ana e ratou te pani i te u, e tango ana i ta te rawakore taunaha:
They pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor.
10 Koia ka haere tahanga ratou, kahore he kakahu, a, i te matekai ka hari i nga paihere witi;
They cause him to go naked without clothing, and they take away the sheaf from the hungry;
11 E mahi nei i te hinu i roto i nga taiepa a aua tangata; e takahi nei i a ratou poka waina, me te mate i te wai.
Which make oil within their walls, and tread their winepresses, and suffer thirst.
12 E aue ana nga tangata i roto i te pa, e karanga ana hoki te wairua o te hunga i patua: kahore ano ia a te Atua whakakuware ki a ratou.
Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded cries out: yet God lays not folly to them.
13 No te hunga ratou e whakakeke ana ki te marama; kahore o ratou mohio ki ona ara, e kore ano ratou e noho ki ona huarahi.
They are of those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof.
14 E maranga ana te kaikohuru i te mea ka marama, patua iho e ia te ware me te rawakore; a i te po ka pena ia i te tahae.
The murderer rising with the light kills the poor and needy, and in the night is as a thief.
15 E tatari ana te kanohi o te tangata puremu kia nehunehu iho, e mea ana, E kore te kanohi e kite i ahau: e huna ana ia i tona mata.
The eye also of the adulterer waits for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me: and disguises his face.
16 E keri ana ratou i nga whare i te pouri: i te awatea e pa ana ratou i a ratou: kahore ratou e mohio ki te marama.
In the dark they dig through houses, which they had marked for themselves in the daytime: they know not the light.
17 Ki a ratou katoa hoki e rite ana te ata ki te atarangi o te mate; e matau ana hoki ratou ki nga whakamataku o te atarangi o te mate.
For the morning is to them even as the shadow of death: if one know them, they are in the terrors of the shadow of death.
18 Tere tonu ia ki runga ki te mata o nga wai; he mea kanga to ratou wahi i runga i te whenua: e kore ia e anga mai ki te ara ki nga mara waina.
He is swift as the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth: he beholds not the way of the vineyards.
19 Ka riro nga wai o te hukarere i te tauraki, i te wera: te hunga hara ano hoki i te reinga. (Sheol )
Drought and heat consume the snow waters: so does the grave those which have sinned. (Sheol )
20 Ka wareware te kopu ki a ia; he kai reka ia ma te iro; e kore ia e maharatia i muri iho; ka whati hoki te kino ano he rakau.
The womb shall forget him; the worm shall feed sweetly on him; he shall be no more remembered; and wickedness shall be broken as a tree.
21 E tukinotia ana e ia te pakoko kihai nei i whanau; kahore hoki ana mahi pai ki te pouaru.
He evil entreats the barren that bears not: and does not good to the widow.
22 E kumea atu ana hoki e ia nga marohirohi ki tona kaha: ka whakatika ake ia, kahore he tangata e u ki te ora.
He draws also the mighty with his power: he rises up, and no man is sure of life.
23 I homai ano e te Atua ki a ratou kia au te noho, a ka whakawhirinaki ratou ki reira; kei runga hoki i o ratou huarahi ona kanohi.
Though it be given him to be in safety, whereon he rests; yet his eyes are upon their ways.
24 E whakanekehia ake ana ratou; otiia wahi iti nei, kua kahore noa iho ratou; ae ra, ka whakaitia ratou, ka whakawateatia atu pera i era atu katoa, a ka tapahia atu ano ko nga kauru o nga puku witi.
They are exalted for a little while, but are gone and brought low; they are taken out of the way as all other, and cut off as the tops of the ears of corn.
25 Ki te mea he teka tenei ko wai hei whakateka ki ahau, hei whakakahore i taku korero?
And if it be not so now, who will make me a liar, and make my speech nothing worth?