Zvirevo 23
1 Kana ukagara pakudya pamwe chete nomubati, nyatsocherechedza zviri pamberi pako,
When thou shalt sit to eat with a prince, consider diligently what is set before thy face.
2 uise banga pahuro kana uri munhu wamadyo.
And put a knife to thy throat, if it be so that thou have thy soul in thy own power.
3 Usapanga zvokudya zvake zvinonaka nokuti zvokudya izvozvo zvinonyengera.
Be not desirous of his meats, in which is the bread of deceit.
4 Usazvionza nokuda kuwana pfuma; iva nouchenjeri hunoita kuti uzvibate.
Labour not to be rich: but set bounds to thy prudence.
5 Kungoti tarisei papfuma, wanei yaenda, nokuti zvirokwazvo inomera mapapiro igobhururuka ichienda kudenga segondo.
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 Usadya zvokudya zvomunhu anonyima, kana kupanga zvokudya zvake zvinonaka;
Eat not with an envious man, and desire not his meats:
7 nokuti munhu uya anongofunga chete mutengo wazvo. Anoti kwauri, “Idya ugonwa,” asi mumwoyo make asingadi.
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 Ucharutsa zvishoma izvozvo zvawadya, uye unenge watambisa mashoko ako nokumutenda.
The meats which thou hadst eaten, thou shalt vomit up: and shalt loose thy beautiful words.
9 Usataura nebenzi, nokuti richashora uchenjeri hwamashoko ako.
Speak not in the ears of fools: because they will despise the instruction of thy speech.
10 Usabvisa dombo romuganhu wakare kana kupinda paminda yenherera,
Touch not the bounds of little ones: and enter not into the field of the fatherless:
11 nokuti Mudziviriri wavo ane simba; iye achavarwira pamhaka yavo newe.
For their near kinsman is strong: and he will judge their cause against thee.
12 Isa mwoyo wako kumurayiro nenzeve dzako kumashoko ezivo.
Let thy heart apply itself to instruction: and thy ears to words of knowledge.
13 Usarega kuranga mwana; ukamuranga neshamhu, haafi.
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 Mwanakomana wangu, kana mwoyo wako wakachenjera, ipapo mwoyo wangu uchafara;
My son, if thy mind be wise, my heart shall rejoice with thee:
16 mukatikati mangu muchapembera kana miromo yako ichitaura zvakarurama.
And my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips shall speak what is right.
17 Usarega mwoyo wako uchichiva vatadzi, asi nguva dzose shingairira kutya Jehovha.
Let not thy heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long:
18 Zvirokwazvo ramangwana rako rine tariro, uye tariro yako haingaparadzwi.
Because thou shalt have hope in the latter end, and thy expectation shall not be taken away.
19 Teerera, mwanakomana wangu, ugova nouchenjeri, uye uchengete mwoyo wako panzira yakarurama.
Hear thou, my son, and be wise: and guide thy mind in the way.
20 Usabatana navaya vanonwa waini zhinji, kunyange vaya vanokara nyama,
Be not in the feasts of great drinkers, nor in their revellings, who contribute flesh to eat:
21 nokuti zvidhakwa nevane madyo vachava varombo, uye hope dzichavapfekedza mamvemve.
Because they that give themselves to drinking, and that club together shall be consumed; and drowsiness shall be clothed with rags.
22 Teerera kuna baba vako, ivo vakakubereka, uye usazvidza mai vako kana vachinge vakwegura.
Hearken to thy father, that beget thee: and despise not thy mother when she is old.
23 Tenga zvokwadi urege kuzoitengesa; uwane uchenjeri, kuzvibata nokunzwisisa.
Buy truth, and do not sell wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
24 Baba vomunhu akarurama vane mufaro mukuru; uyo ane mwanakomana akachenjera anofadzwa naye.
The father of the just rejoiceth greatly: he that hath begotten a wise son, shall have joy in him.
25 Baba vako namai vako ngavafare; mai vakakubereka ngavafare kwazvo!
Let thy father, and thy mother be joyful, and let her rejoice that bore thee.
26 Mwanakomana wangu, ndipe mwoyo wako uye meso ako ngaananʼanidze nzira dzangu,
My son, give me thy heart: and let thy eyes keep my ways.
27 nokuti chifeve igomba rakadzika, uye mukadzi asingazvibati itsime rakamanikana.
For a harlot is a deep ditch: and a strange woman is a narrow pit.
28 Segororo anohwandira, anowedzera vasina kutendeka pakati pavarume.
She lieth in wait in the way as a robber, and him whom she shall see unwary, she will kill.
29 Ndiani ane nhamo? Ndiani akasuwa? Ndiani anokakavara? Ndiani anonyunyuta? Ndiani ane mavanga pasina mhaka? Ndiani ane meso akatsvuka?
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 Vaya vanogara pawaini, vanoenda kundoravira makate ewaini yakavhenganiswa.
Surely they that pass their time in wine, and study to drink of their cups.
31 Usatarisa waini kana yatsvuka, kana ichivaima iri mumukombe, kana ichidzika zvakanaka pakunwa!
Look not upon the wine when it is yellow, when the colour thereof shineth in the glass: it goeth in pleasantly,
32 Pakupedzisira inoruma senyoka uye ine uturu semvumbi.
But in the end, it will bite like a snake, and will spread abroad poison like a basilisk.
33 Meso ako achaona zvisakamboonekwa uye pfungwa dzako dzichafunga zvakapesana.
Thy eyes shall behold strange women, and thy heart shall utter perverse things.
34 Uchava souya akarara pamusoro pamafungu amakungwa, kana somunhu avete pamusoro pedanda rechikepe.
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 Uchati, “Vakandirova, asi handina kukuvara! Vakandirova asi handina kuzvinzwa! Ndichamuka rinhiko kuti ndigotsvakazve waini?”
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?
