Mithali 23
1 Uketipo kula chakula na mtawala, angalia vyema kile kilicho mbele yako,
When you sit to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before you:
2 na utie kisu kooni mwako kama ukiwa mlafi.
And put a knife to your throat, if you be a man given to appetite.
3 Usitamani vyakula vyake vitamu kwa kuwa chakula hicho ni cha hila.
Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.
4 Usijitaabishe ili kuupata utajiri, uwe na hekima kuonyesha kujizuia.
Labor not to be rich: cease from your own wisdom.
5 Kufumba na kufumbua utajiri hutoweka, huwa kama umepata mabawa ghafula, ukaruka na kutoweka angani kama tai.
Will you set your eyes on that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.
6 Usile chakula cha mtu mchoyo, usitamani vyakula vyake vitamu,
Eat you not the bread of him that has an evil eye, neither desire you his dainty 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.
For as he thinks in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, says he to you; but his heart is not with you.
8 Utatapika kile kidogo ulichokula, nawe utakuwa umepoteza bure maneno yako ya kumsifu.
The morsel which you have eaten shall you vomit up, and lose your sweet words.
9 Usizungumze na mpumbavu, kwa maana atadhihaki hekima ya maneno yako.
Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of your words.
10 Usisogeze jiwe la mpaka wa zamani wala kunyemelea kwenye mashamba ya yatima,
Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:
11 kwa kuwa Mtetezi wao ni mwenye nguvu, atalichukua shauri lao dhidi yako.
For their redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with you.
12 Elekeza moyo wako kwenye mafundisho na masikio yako kwenye maneno ya maarifa.
Apply your heart to instruction, and your ears to the words of knowledge.
13 Usimnyime mtoto adhabu, ukimwadhibu kwa fimbo, hatakufa.
Withhold not correction from the child: for if you beat him with the rod, he shall not die.
You shall beat him with the rod, and shall deliver his soul from hell. (Sheol h7585)
15 Mwanangu, kama moyo wako una hekima, basi moyo wangu utafurahi,
My son, if your heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.
16 utu wangu wa ndani utafurahi, wakati midomo yako itakapozungumza lililo sawa.
Yes, my reins shall rejoice, when your lips speak right things.
17 Usiuruhusu moyo wako kuwaonea wivu wenye dhambi, bali kila mara uwe na bidii katika kumcha Bwana.
Let not your heart envy sinners: but be you in the fear of the LORD all the day long.
18 Hakika kuna tumaini la baadaye kwa ajili yako, nalo tarajio lako halitakatiliwa mbali.
For surely there is an end; and your expectation shall not be cut off.
19 Sikiliza, mwanangu na uwe na hekima, weka moyo wako kwenye njia iliyo sawa.
Hear you, my son, and be wise, and guide your heart in the way.
20 Usiwe miongoni mwa wanywao mvinyo, au wale walao nyama kwa pupa,
Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:
21 kwa maana walevi na walafi huwa maskini, nako kusinzia huwavika matambara.
For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.
22 Msikilize baba yako, aliyekuzaa, wala usimdharau mama yako atakapokuwa mzee.
Listen to your father that begat you, and despise not your mother when she is old.
23 Nunua kweli wala usiiuze, pata hekima, adabu na ufahamu.
Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
24 Baba wa mwenye haki ana furaha kubwa, naye aliye na mwana mwenye hekima humfurahia.
The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begets a wise child shall have joy of him.
25 Baba yako na mama yako na wafurahi, mama aliyekuzaa na ashangilie!
Your father and your mother shall be glad, and she that bore you shall rejoice.
26 Mwanangu, nipe moyo wako, macho yako na yafuate njia zangu,
My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.
27 kwa maana kahaba ni shimo refu na mwanamke mpotovu ni kisima chembamba.
For a whore 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 also lies in wait as for a prey, and increases the transgressors among men.
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 has woe? who has sorrow? who has contentions? who has babbling? who has wounds without cause? who has redness of eyes?
30 Ni hao wakaao sana kwenye mvinyo, hao waendao kuonja mabakuli ya mvinyo uliochanganywa.
They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.
31 Usiukodolee macho mvinyo wakati ukiwa mwekundu, wakati unapometameta kwenye bilauri, wakati ushukapo taratibu!
Look not you on the wine when it is red, when it gives his color in the cup, when it moves itself aright.
32 Mwishowe huuma kama nyoka na kutia sumu yake kama nyoka mwenye sumu.
At the last it bites like a serpent, and stings like an adder.
33 Macho yako yataona mambo mageni na moyo wako kuwazia mambo yaliyopotoka.
Your eyes shall behold strange women, and your heart shall utter perverse things.
34 Utakuwa kama alalaye katikati ya bahari, alalaye juu ya kamba ya merikebu.
Yes, you shall be as he that lies down in the middle of the sea, or as he that lies on the top of a mast.
35 Utasema, “Wamenipiga lakini sikuumia! Wamenichapa, lakini sisikii! Nitaamka lini ili nikanywe tena?”
They have stricken me, shall you say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.
