Hopa 8
1 Na ka whakautu a Pirirara Huhi, ka mea,
The Baldad the Suhite answered, and said:
2 Kia pehea ake te roa o tau korero i enei mea? Kia pehea ake te roa o nga kupu a tou mangai e rite ai ki te hau kaha?
How long wilt thou speak these things, and how long shall the words of thy mouth be like a strong wind?
3 E whakaparori ke ranei te Atua i te whakawa? E whakaparori ke ranei te Kaha Rawa i te tika?
Doth God pervert judgment, or doth the Almighty overthrow that which is just?
4 Ki te mea i hara au tamariki ki a ia, a kua maka atu ratou e ia hei utu mo to ratou he;
Although thy children have sinned against him, and he hath left them in the hand of their iniquity:
5 Ki te rapu wawe koe i to Atua, a ka inoi ki te Kaha Rawa;
Yet if thou wilt arise early to God, and wilt beseech the Almighty:
6 Ki te mea he ma koe, he tika, ina, ka ara ake ia ki a koe aianei, ka manaakitia ano e ia te nohoanga o tou tika.
If thou wilt walk clean and upright, he will presently awake onto thee, and will make the dwelling of thy justice peaceable:
7 Ahakoa i iti tou timatanga, e nui noa atu tou whakamutunga.
Insomuch, that if thy former things were small, thy latter things would be multiplied exceedingly.
8 Tena ra, ui atu ki to mua whakatupuranga; anga atu hoki ki te mea kua rapua e o ratou matua.
For inquire of the former generation, and search diligently into the memory of the fathers:
9 Nonanahi nei hoki tatou, kahore hoki e mohio; he atarangi nei hoki o tatou ra i runga i te whenua;
(For we are but of yesterday, and are ignorant that our days upon earth are but a shadow: )
10 E kore ranei ratou e whakaako i a koe, e korero ki a koe, e puaki mai ranei he kupu i o ratou ngakau?
And they shall teach thee: they shall speak to thee, and utter words out of their hearts.
11 E tupu ranei te wiwi i te mea kahore he repo? E nui ranei te raupo ki te kahore he wai?
Can the rush be green without moisture? or a sedge-bush grow without water?
12 I te mea he kaiota tonu, a kihai i tapahia, kua maroke i mua ake i nga otaota katoa.
When it is yet in flower, and is not plucked up with the hand, it withereth before all herbs.
13 Ka pera ano nga ara o te hunga katoa e wareware ana ki te Atua, a ka riro ki te kore ta te tangata whakaponokore i tumanako ai.
Even so are the ways of all that forget God, and the hope of the hypocrite shall perish:
14 Ka motuhia atu tana i whakamanawa atu ai, ko te whare hoki o te pungawerewere hei tumanakohanga mona.
His folly shall not please him, and his trust shall be like the spider’s web.
15 Ka okioki atu ia ki tona whare; heoi e kore e tu: u tonu tana pupuri atu, otiia e kore e mau.
He shall lean upon his house, and it shall not stand: he shall prop it up, and it shall not rise:
16 E matomato ana i te mea kahore nei te ra, a e wana ana ona peka i tana kari.
He seemeth to have moisture before the sun cometh, and at his rising his blossom shall shoot forth.
17 Kapi tonu te puranga i ona pakiaka, e kitea ana e ia te wahi kamaka.
His roots shall be thick upon a heap of stones, and among the stones he shall abide.
18 Ki te whakamotitia iho ia i tona wahi, ka whakakahore taua wahi ki a ia, ka mea, Kahore ahau i kite i a koe.
If one swallow him up out of his place, he shall deny him, and shall say: I know thee not.
19 Nana, ko te hari tenei o tona ara, a ka tupu ake etahi atu i roto i te puehu.
For this is the joy of his way, that others may spring again out of the earth.
20 Nana, e kore te Atua e whakakahore ki te tangata tika, e kore ano e puritia e ia te ringa o nga tangata kino.
God will not cast away the simple, nor reach out his hand to the evildoer:
21 Tera ano tou mangaika whakakiia e ia ki te kata, ou ngutu ki te hamama.
Until thy mouth be filled with laughter, and thy lips with rejoicing.
22 He whakama te kakahu mo te hunga e kino ana ki a koe, a ka kahore noa iho te tapenakara o te hunga kino.
They that hate thee, shall be clothed with confusion: and the dwelling of the wicked shall not stand.
