Waiata 58
1 Ki te tino kaiwhakatangi. Aratakiti. He Mikitama. Na Rawiri. He korero puku ranei ta koutou i te pono? he tika ranei ta koutou whakarite, e nga tama a te tangata?
To the Chief Musician. "Do not Destroy." A precious Psalm, of David. Are ye, indeed, silent [when] righteousness, ye should speak? When, with equity, ye should judge, O ye sons of men?
2 He pono, e mahia ana e koutou te he i roto i te ngakau, e paunatia ana e koutou te tutu a o koutou ringa i runga i te whenua.
Aye! ye all do work, perversity, —Throughout the land, your hands, weigh out, violence!
3 He tangata ke te hunga hara no te kopu mai ano; whanau kau kua kotiti ke, kua korero teka.
Lawless men have been estranged from birth, They have gone astray from their nativity, speaking falsehood;
4 Ko to ratou paihana he rite ki to te nakahi, kei te neke turi e puru nei i tona taringa;
Their poison, is like unto the poison of a serpent, Like the deaf adder, that stoppeth his ear;
5 E kore nei e whakarongo ki te reo o te kaiwhakawai, ahakoa tino matau ia ki te whakawai.
That will not hearken to the voice of whisperers, Though the wise one try to bind him with spells.
6 Whatiia, e te Atua, o ratou niho i roto i o ratou mangai: kowhakia, e Ihowa, nga niho nunui o nga kuao raiona.
O God! break away their teeth in their mouth, The biters of the young lions, knock thou out, O Yahweh!
7 Kia mimiti ratou, ano he wai e heke atu ana: ka whakatikaia ana pere, kia rite ki te mea kua poutoa.
Let such men flow away like waters that disperse themselves: He prepareth his arrow, Like [grass] let them be cut down:
8 Kia memeha haere, a kia pahure, ano he ngata: kia rite ki te mea mate roto a te wahine, kahore nei i kite i te ra.
Like a snail, which melteth away as it goeth, An untimely birth of a woman, which hath not seen the sun:
9 E kore e tukua kia rongo a koutou kohua i nga tataramoa, ka kahakina ratou e ia i roto i te awhiowhio, te mea kaiota, te mea e wera ana.
Before your kettles can perceive the [kindled] bramble, Be he green or be he withered, he shall be swept away.
10 Ka hari te tangata tika ua kite i te utu: ka horoia e ia ona waewae ki nga toto o te tangata hara.
The righteous man will rejoice when he hath seen an avenging, His feet, will he bathe in the blood of the lawless one: —
11 A ka mea te tangata, Koia, ka whai utu te tangata tika: ina, he Atua ano tenei e whakawa ana i te whenua.
So that a son of earth may say—Surely there is fruit for the righteous man! Surely there are gods who judge in the earth!
