Mithali 23
1 Uketipo kula chakula na mtawala, angalia vyema kile kilicho mbele yako,
When thou shalt sit to eat with a prince, consider diligently what is set before thy face.
2 na utie kisu kooni mwako kama ukiwa mlafi.
And put a knife to thy throat, if it be so that thou have thy soul in thy own power.
3 Usitamani vyakula vyake vitamu kwa kuwa chakula hicho ni cha hila.
Be not desirous of his meats, in which is the bread of deceit.
4 Usijitaabishe ili kuupata utajiri, uwe na hekima kuonyesha kujizuia.
Labour not to be rich: but set bounds to thy prudence.
5 Kufumba na kufumbua utajiri hutoweka, huwa kama umepata mabawa ghafula, ukaruka na kutoweka angani kama tai.
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 Usile chakula cha mtu mchoyo, usitamani vyakula vyake vitamu,
Eat not with an envious man, and desire not his meats:
7 kwa maana yeye ni aina ya mtu ambaye kila mara anafikiri juu ya gharama. Anakuambia, “Kula na kunywa,” lakini moyo wake hauko pamoja nawe.
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 Utatapika kile kidogo ulichokula, nawe utakuwa umepoteza bure maneno yako ya kumsifu.
The meats which thou hadst eaten, thou shalt vomit up: and shalt loose thy beautiful words.
9 Usizungumze na mpumbavu, kwa maana atadhihaki hekima ya maneno yako.
Speak not in the ears of fools: because they will despise the instruction of thy speech.
10 Usisogeze jiwe la mpaka wa zamani wala kunyemelea kwenye mashamba ya yatima,
Touch not the bounds of little ones: and enter not into the field of the fatherless:
11 kwa kuwa Mtetezi wao ni mwenye nguvu, atalichukua shauri lao dhidi yako.
For their near kinsman is strong: and he will judge their cause against thee.
12 Elekeza moyo wako kwenye mafundisho na masikio yako kwenye maneno ya maarifa.
Let thy heart apply itself to instruction: and thy ears to words of knowledge.
13 Usimnyime mtoto adhabu, ukimwadhibu kwa fimbo, hatakufa.
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 Mwanangu, kama moyo wako una hekima, basi moyo wangu utafurahi,
My son, if thy mind be wise, my heart shall rejoice with thee:
16 utu wangu wa ndani utafurahi, wakati midomo yako itakapozungumza lililo sawa.
And my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips shall speak what is right.
17 Usiuruhusu moyo wako kuwaonea wivu wenye dhambi, bali kila mara uwe na bidii katika kumcha Bwana.
Let not thy heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long:
18 Hakika kuna tumaini la baadaye kwa ajili yako, nalo tarajio lako halitakatiliwa mbali.
Because thou shalt have hope in the latter end, and thy expectation shall not be taken away.
19 Sikiliza, mwanangu na uwe na hekima, weka moyo wako kwenye njia iliyo sawa.
Hear thou, my son, and be wise: and guide thy mind in the way.
20 Usiwe miongoni mwa wanywao mvinyo, au wale walao nyama kwa pupa,
Be not in the feasts of great drinkers, nor in their revellings, who contribute flesh to eat:
21 kwa maana walevi na walafi huwa maskini, nako kusinzia huwavika matambara.
Because they that give themselves to drinking, and that club together shall be consumed; and drowsiness shall be clothed with rags.
22 Msikilize baba yako, aliyekuzaa, wala usimdharau mama yako atakapokuwa mzee.
Hearken to thy father, that beget thee: and despise not thy mother when she is old.
23 Nunua kweli wala usiiuze, pata hekima, adabu na ufahamu.
Buy truth, and do not sell wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
24 Baba wa mwenye haki ana furaha kubwa, naye aliye na mwana mwenye hekima humfurahia.
The father of the just rejoiceth greatly: he that hath begotten a wise son, shall have joy in him.
25 Baba yako na mama yako na wafurahi, mama aliyekuzaa na ashangilie!
Let thy father, and thy mother be joyful, and let her rejoice that bore thee.
26 Mwanangu, nipe moyo wako, macho yako na yafuate njia zangu,
My son, give me thy heart: and let thy eyes keep my ways.
27 kwa maana kahaba ni shimo refu na mwanamke mpotovu ni kisima chembamba.
For a harlot is a deep ditch: and a strange woman is a narrow pit.
28 Kama mnyangʼanyi, hungojea akivizia, naye huzidisha wasio waaminifu miongoni mwa wanaume.
She lieth in wait in the way as a robber, and him whom she shall see unwary, she will kill.
29 Ni nani mwenye ole? Ni nani mwenye huzuni? Ni nani mwenye ugomvi? Ni nani mwenye malalamiko? Ni nani aliye na majeraha yasiyo na sababu? Ni nani mwenye macho mekundu?
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 Ni hao wakaao sana kwenye mvinyo, hao waendao kuonja mabakuli ya mvinyo uliochanganywa.
Surely they that pass their time in wine, and study to drink of their cups.
31 Usiukodolee macho mvinyo wakati ukiwa mwekundu, wakati unapometameta kwenye bilauri, wakati ushukapo taratibu!
Look not upon the wine when it is yellow, when the colour thereof shineth in the glass: it goeth in pleasantly,
32 Mwishowe huuma kama nyoka na kutia sumu yake kama nyoka mwenye sumu.
But in the end, it will bite like a snake, and will spread abroad poison like a basilisk.
33 Macho yako yataona mambo mageni na moyo wako kuwazia mambo yaliyopotoka.
Thy eyes shall behold strange women, and thy heart shall utter perverse things.
34 Utakuwa kama alalaye katikati ya bahari, alalaye juu ya kamba ya merikebu.
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 Utasema, “Wamenipiga lakini sikuumia! Wamenichapa, lakini sisikii! Nitaamka lini ili nikanywe tena?”
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?
