Whakatauki 23
1 Ki te noho tahi korua ko te rangatira ki te kai, ata whakaaroa marietia tera i tou aroaro:
When thou shalt sit to eat with a prince, consider diligently what is set before thy face.
2 Whakapakia he maripi ki tou korokoro, ki te mea he tangata kakai koe.
And put a knife to thy throat, if it be so that thou have thy soul in thy own power.
3 Kaua e hiahia ki ana mea reka: he kai tinihanga hoki era.
Be not desirous of his meats, in which is the bread of deceit.
4 Kaua e taruke ki te mea taonga: kati tau mea ki tou matauranga.
Labour not to be rich: but set bounds to thy prudence.
5 E anga mai ranei ou kanohi ki taua mea korekore nei? He pono hoki ka whai parirau te taonga, koia ano kei te ekara, rere ana whaka te rangi.
Lift not up thy eyes to riches which thou canst not have: because they shall make themselves wings like those of an eagle, and shall fly towards heaven.
6 Kaua e kainga te kai a te tangata kanohi kino, kei minamina hoki koe ki ana mea reka.
Eat not with an envious man, and desire not his meats:
7 Ko tana hoki e mea ai i roto i a ia, pera tonu ia: E kai, e inu; koia tana kupu ki a koe; kahore ia ona ngakau ki a koe.
Because like a soothsayer, and diviner, he thinketh that which he knoweth not. Eat and drink, will he say to thee: and his mind is not with thee.
8 Ko te kongakonga i kainga e koe, ka ruakina e koe, ka maumauria ano hoki au kupu reka.
The meats which thou hadst eaten, thou shalt vomit up: and shalt loose thy beautiful words.
9 Kaua e korero ki nga taringa o te kuware; ka whakahawea hoki ia ki te whakaaro nui o au kupu.
Speak not in the ears of fools: because they will despise the instruction of thy speech.
10 Kei whakanekehia e koe te rohe tawhito; kei haere koe ki nga mara a te pani:
Touch not the bounds of little ones: and enter not into the field of the fatherless:
11 No te mea he kaha to ratou kaiwhakaora; ka tohea e ia ta ratou tohe ki a koe.
For their near kinsman is strong: and he will judge their cause against thee.
12 Anga atu tou ngakau ki te ako, me ou taringa ki nga kupu o te matauranga.
Let thy heart apply itself to instruction: and thy ears to words of knowledge.
13 Kaua e tohungia te whiu ki te tamaiti: ki te patua hoki ia e koe ki te rakau, e kore ia e mate.
Withhold not correction from a child: for if thou strike him with the rod, he shall not die.
Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and deliver his soul from hell. (Sheol h7585)
15 E taku tama, ki te whakaaro nui tou ngakau, ka koa hoki toku ngakau, ae ra, toku nei ano:
My son, if thy mind be wise, my heart shall rejoice with thee:
16 Ae ra, ka hari oku whatumanawa, ina korero ou ngutu i nga mea tika.
And my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips shall speak what is right.
17 Kei hae tou ngakau ki te hunga hara; engari kia wehi koe ki a Ihowa, a pau noa te ra.
Let not thy heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long:
18 He pono hoki tera ano he whakautu; e kore ano hoki tau i tumanako ai e hatepea atu.
Because thou shalt have hope in the latter end, and thy expectation shall not be taken away.
19 Whakarongo ra, e taku tama, kia whai whakaaro hoki koe, a whakatikaia tou ngakau i te ara.
Hear thou, my son, and be wise: and guide thy mind in the way.
20 Kei uru ki te hunga kakai waina; ki te hunga pukukai kikokiko:
Be not in the feasts of great drinkers, nor in their revellings, who contribute flesh to eat:
21 No te mea ka tutuki tahi te tangata inu raua ko te tangata kakai ki te rawakore; he tawhetawhe hoki te kakahu a te momoe mo te tangata.
Because they that give themselves to drinking, and that club together shall be consumed; and drowsiness shall be clothed with rags.
22 Whakarongo ki tou papa nana koe; kaua hoki e whakahawea ki tou whaea ina ruruhi ia.
Hearken to thy father, that beget thee: and despise not thy mother when she is old.
23 Hokona te pono, kaua hoki e whakawhitiwhitia; ae ra, te whakaaro nui, te ako hoki, me te matauranga.
Buy truth, and do not sell wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
24 Nui atu hoki te koa o te papa o te tangata tika; a, ko te tangata e whanau he tama whakaaro nui mana, ka hari ia ki a ia.
The father of the just rejoiceth greatly: he that hath begotten a wise son, shall have joy in him.
25 Kia hari tou papa raua ko tou whaea, ina, kia koa te wahine i whanau ai koe.
Let thy father, and thy mother be joyful, and let her rejoice that bore thee.
26 E taku tama, homai tou ngakau ki ahau, kia manako ano hoki ou kanohi ki aku ara.
My son, give me thy heart: and let thy eyes keep my ways.
27 No te mea he rua hohonu te wahine kairau; he poka kuiti te wahine ke.
For a harlot is a deep ditch: and a strange woman is a narrow pit.
28 Ae ra, ka whanga ia ano he kaipahua, a ka whakatokomahatia e ia nga tangata poka ke.
She lieth in wait in the way as a robber, and him whom she shall see unwary, she will kill.
29 Ko wai e aue? Ko wai e tangi? Ko wai e totohe? Ko wai e ngangautia? Ko wai e maru, he mea takekore? Ko wai e whero tonu ona kanohi?
Who hath woe? whose father hath woe? who hath contentions? who falls into pits? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
30 Ko te hunga e noho roa ana ki te waina; ko te hunga e haere ana ki te rapu i te waina whakaranu.
Surely they that pass their time in wine, and study to drink of their cups.
31 Kaua e titiro ki te waina i te mea e whero ana, ina puta tona kara i roto i te kapu, ina mania tona heke.
Look not upon the wine when it is yellow, when the colour thereof shineth in the glass: it goeth in pleasantly,
32 Tona tukunga iho ano he nakahi e ngau ana, koia ano kei te wero a te neke.
But in the end, it will bite like a snake, and will spread abroad poison like a basilisk.
33 E kite hoki ou kanohi i nga mea rereke, a ka puta he kupu rereke i tou ngakau.
Thy eyes shall behold strange women, and thy heart shall utter perverse things.
34 Ae ra, ka rite koe ki te tangata e takoto ana i waenga moana, ki te tangata ranei e takoto ana i te tihi o te rewa.
And thou shalt be as one sleeping in the midst of the sea, and as a pilot fast asleep, when the stern is lost.
35 A ka mea koe, Patua ana ahau e ratou, a kihai ahau i mamae; tatatia ana ahau e ratou, a kihai ahau i mohio: a hea ahau ara ake ai? Ka rapua ano e ahau.
And thou shalt say: They have beaten me, but I was not sensible of pain: they drew me, and I felt not: when shall I awake, and find wine again?
