< Zvirevo 23 >
1 Kana ukagara pakudya pamwe chete nomubati, nyatsocherechedza zviri pamberi pako,
When you sit down to eat with a leader, pay close attention to what has been set before your face,
2 uise banga pahuro kana uri munhu wamadyo.
and put a knife to your throat, if, in such a way, you could hold your soul in your own power.
3 Usapanga zvokudya zvake zvinonaka nokuti zvokudya izvozvo zvinonyengera.
Do not desire his foods, in which is the bread of deceit.
4 Usazvionza nokuda kuwana pfuma; iva nouchenjeri hunoita kuti uzvibate.
Do not be willing to labor so that you may be enriched. But set limits by your prudence.
5 Kungoti tarisei papfuma, wanei yaenda, nokuti zvirokwazvo inomera mapapiro igobhururuka ichienda kudenga segondo.
Do not raise your eyes toward wealth that you are not able to have. For they will make themselves wings, like those of an eagle, and they will fly in the sky.
6 Usadya zvokudya zvomunhu anonyima, kana kupanga zvokudya zvake zvinonaka;
Do not eat with an envious man, and do not desire his foods.
7 nokuti munhu uya anongofunga chete mutengo wazvo. Anoti kwauri, “Idya ugonwa,” asi mumwoyo make asingadi.
For, like a seer and an interpreter of dreams, he presumes what he does not know. “Eat and drink,” he will say to you; and his mind is not with you.
8 Ucharutsa zvishoma izvozvo zvawadya, uye unenge watambisa mashoko ako nokumutenda.
The foods that you had eaten, you will vomit up. And you will lose the beauty in your words.
9 Usataura nebenzi, nokuti richashora uchenjeri hwamashoko ako.
Do not speak into the ears of the unwise. They will despise the doctrine of your eloquence.
10 Usabvisa dombo romuganhu wakare kana kupinda paminda yenherera,
Do not touch the boundaries of little ones, and do not enter into the field of the fatherless.
11 nokuti Mudziviriri wavo ane simba; iye achavarwira pamhaka yavo newe.
For their close relative is strong, and he will judge their case against you.
12 Isa mwoyo wako kumurayiro nenzeve dzako kumashoko ezivo.
Let your heart enter into doctrine, and let your ears enter into words of knowledge.
13 Usarega kuranga mwana; ukamuranga neshamhu, haafi.
Do not be willing to take away discipline from a child. For if you strike him with the rod, he will not die.
14 Murange neshamhu ugoponesa mweya wake kubva parufu. (Sheol )
You will strike him with the rod, and so shall you deliver his soul from Hell. (Sheol )
15 Mwanakomana wangu, kana mwoyo wako wakachenjera, ipapo mwoyo wangu uchafara;
My son, if your soul will become wise, my heart will be glad with you.
16 mukatikati mangu muchapembera kana miromo yako ichitaura zvakarurama.
And my temperament will exult, when your lips will have spoken what is upright.
17 Usarega mwoyo wako uchichiva vatadzi, asi nguva dzose shingairira kutya Jehovha.
Let not your heart compete with sinners. But be in the fear of the Lord all day long.
18 Zvirokwazvo ramangwana rako rine tariro, uye tariro yako haingaparadzwi.
For you will have hope in the end, and your expectation will not be taken away.
19 Teerera, mwanakomana wangu, ugova nouchenjeri, uye uchengete mwoyo wako panzira yakarurama.
Listen, my son, and be wise, and direct your soul along the way.
20 Usabatana navaya vanonwa waini zhinji, kunyange vaya vanokara nyama,
Do not be willing to be in the feasts of great drinkers, nor in the carousings of those who gather to feed on flesh.
21 nokuti zvidhakwa nevane madyo vachava varombo, uye hope dzichavapfekedza mamvemve.
For those who waste time drinking, and who surrender themselves to symbols, will be consumed. And those who sleep will be clothed in rags.
22 Teerera kuna baba vako, ivo vakakubereka, uye usazvidza mai vako kana vachinge vakwegura.
Listen to your father, who conceived you. And do not despise your mother, when she is old.
23 Tenga zvokwadi urege kuzoitengesa; uwane uchenjeri, kuzvibata nokunzwisisa.
Purchase truth, and do not sell wisdom, or doctrine, or understanding.
24 Baba vomunhu akarurama vane mufaro mukuru; uyo ane mwanakomana akachenjera anofadzwa naye.
The father of the just exults in gladness; he who has conceived the wise will rejoice in him.
25 Baba vako namai vako ngavafare; mai vakakubereka ngavafare kwazvo!
Let your father and your mother be joyful, and may she who conceived you exult.
26 Mwanakomana wangu, ndipe mwoyo wako uye meso ako ngaananʼanidze nzira dzangu,
My son, offer me your heart, and let your eyes keep to my ways.
27 nokuti chifeve igomba rakadzika, uye mukadzi asingazvibati itsime rakamanikana.
For a loose woman is a deep pit, and a foreign woman is a constricted well.
28 Segororo anohwandira, anowedzera vasina kutendeka pakati pavarume.
She lies in wait along the way like a robber. And the incautious one whom she sees, she will put to death.
29 Ndiani ane nhamo? Ndiani akasuwa? Ndiani anokakavara? Ndiani anonyunyuta? Ndiani ane mavanga pasina mhaka? Ndiani ane meso akatsvuka?
Who has woe? Whose father has woe? Who has quarrels? Who falls into pits? Who has wounds without cause? Who has watery eyes?
30 Vaya vanogara pawaini, vanoenda kundoravira makate ewaini yakavhenganiswa.
Is it not those who linger over wine, and who strive to be drinking from their cups?
31 Usatarisa waini kana yatsvuka, kana ichivaima iri mumukombe, kana ichidzika zvakanaka pakunwa!
Do not gaze into the wine when it turns gold, when its color shines in the glass. It enters pleasantly,
32 Pakupedzisira inoruma senyoka uye ine uturu semvumbi.
but in the end, it will bite like a snake, and it will spread poison like a king of snakes.
33 Meso ako achaona zvisakamboonekwa uye pfungwa dzako dzichafunga zvakapesana.
Your eyes will see women who are outsiders, and your heart will utter perversities.
34 Uchava souya akarara pamusoro pamafungu amakungwa, kana somunhu avete pamusoro pedanda rechikepe.
And you will be like someone sleeping in the middle of the sea, and like a pilot, fast asleep, who has lost his hold on the helm.
35 Uchati, “Vakandirova, asi handina kukuvara! Vakandirova asi handina kuzvinzwa! Ndichamuka rinhiko kuti ndigotsvakazve waini?”
And you will say: “They have beaten me, but I did not feel pain. They have dragged me, and I did not realize it. When will I awaken and find more wine?”