Mithali 23
1 Unapoketi kula pamoja na mtawala, angalia kwa uangalifu kilichopo mbele yako,
When you sit to eat with a ruler, Diligently consider that which [is] before you,
2 na kama ni mtu unayependa kula chakula sana weka kisu kooni.
And you have put a knife to your throat, If you [are] a man of appetite.
3 Usitamani vinono vyake maana ni chakula cha uongo.
Have no desire to his delicacies, seeing it [is] lying food.
4 Usifanye kazi sana ili kupata mali; uwe na busara ya kutosha ili ujue wakati wa kuacha.
Do not labor to make wealth, Cease from your own understanding, Do you cause your eyes to fly on it? Then it is not.
5 Je utaruhusu macho yako yaangaze juu yake? Itaondoka, maana itawaa mabawa kama tai na kuruka angani.
For wealth makes wings to itself, It flies to the heavens as an eagle.
6 Usile chakula cha yule mwenye jicho baya- na usiwe na shauku ya vinono vyake,
Do not eat the bread of an evil eye, And have no desire to his delicacies,
7 maana ni mtu mwenye kuhesabu gharama ya chakula. “Kula na kunywa!” anakuambia, lakini moyo wake haupo pamoja nawe.
For as he has thought in his soul, so he [is]. “Eat and drink,” he says to you, And his heart [is] not with you.
8 Utatapika kiasi kidogo ulichokula na utakuwa umepoteza sifa zako njema.
You vomit up your morsel you have eaten, And have marred your words that [are] sweet.
9 Usiongee katika usikivu wa mpumbavu, maana atadharau hekima ya maneno yako.
Do not speak in the ears of a fool, For he treads on the wisdom of your words.
10 Usihamishe jiwe la mpaka wa kale au kunyang'anya mashamba ya yatima,
Do not remove a border of ancient times, And do not enter into fields of the fatherless,
11 maana Mkombozi wao ni imara na atatetea kesi yao dhidi yako.
For their Redeemer [is] strong, He pleads their cause with you.
12 Elekeza moyo wako katika mafundisho na masikio yako kwenye maneno ya maarifa.
Bring your heart to instruction, And your ear to sayings of knowledge.
13 Usizuie kuadilisha mtoto, maana ukimchapa kwa fimbo, hatakufa.
Do not withhold discipline from a youth, When you strike him with a rod he does not die.
You strike him with a rod, And you deliver his soul from Sheol. (Sheol h7585)
15 Mwanangu, kama moyo wako una busara, basi moyo wangu utafurahi pia;
My son, if your heart has been wise, My heart rejoices, even mine,
16 sehemu zangu ndani kabisa zitafurahi sana midomo yako inaponena haki.
And my reins exult when your lips speak uprightly.
17 Usiruhusu moyo wako kuwahusudu wenye dhambi, lakini endelea kumcha Yehova siku zote.
Do not let your heart be envious at sinners, But—in the fear of YHWH all the day.
18 Hakika tumaini lako halitaondolewa na siku zako za hapo baadaye.
For is there a posterity? Then your hope is not cut off.
19 Sikia- wewe! - mwanangu, na uwe mwenye busara na uelekeze moyo wako katika njia.
Hear, my son, and be wise, And make your heart blessed in the way,
20 Usishirikiane pamoja na walevi, au pamoja na walaji wa nyama walafi,
Do not become drunk with wine, Among gluttonous ones of flesh,
21 maana mlevi na mlafi wanakuwa masikini na usingizi utawavika kwa matambara.
For the drunkard and glutton become poor, And drowsiness clothes with rags.
22 Msikilize baba yako ambaye alikuzaa na usimdharau mama yako wakati akiwa mzee.
Listen to your father, who begot you, And do not despise your mother when she has become old.
23 Inunue kweli, lakini usiiuze; nunua hekima, nidhamu, na ufahamu.
Buy truth, and do not sell, Wisdom, and instruction, and understanding,
24 Baba yake mwenye haki atafurahia sana, na yule amzaaye mtoto mwenye busara atamfurahia.
The father of the righteous rejoices greatly, The begetter of the wise rejoices in him.
25 Mfurahishe baba yako na mama yako na yule aliyekuzaa afurahie.
Your father and your mother rejoice, Indeed, she bearing you is joyful.
26 Mwanangu, nipe moyo wako na macho yako yachunguze njia zangu.
Give, my son, your heart to me, And let your eyes watch my ways.
27 Maana malaya ni shimo refu, na mke wa mume mwingine ni kisima chembamba.
For a harlot [is] a deep ditch, And a strange woman [is] a narrow pit.
28 Anavizia kama mnyang'anyi na huongeza idadi ya wadanganyifu miongoni mwa wanadamu.
She also, as catching prey, lies in wait, And she increases the treacherous among men.
29 Nani mwenye taabu? Nani mwenye huzuni? Nani mwenye mapigano? Nani mwenye malalamiko? Nani mwenye majeraha bila sababu? Nani mwenye macho mekundu?
Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaint? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes?
30 Ni wale ambao huzengea kwenye mvinyo, wale wanaojaribu kuchanganya mvinyo.
Those lingering by the wine, Those going in to search out mixed wine.
31 Usiutazame mvinyo ukiwa mwekundu, wakati unametameta kwenye kikombe na kutelemka kwa uraini.
Do not see wine when it shows itself red, When it gives its color in the cup, It goes up and down through the upright.
32 Mwisho wake unauma kama nyoka na sumu yake kama kifutu.
Its latter end—it bites as a serpent, And it stings as a viper.
33 Macho yako yataona vitu vigeni na moyo wako utatamka vitu vya ukaidi.
Your eyes see strange women, And your heart speaks perverse things.
34 Utakuwa kama anayelala kwenye bahari au anayelala juu ya mlingoti. “
And you have been as one lying down in the heart of the sea, And as one lying down on the top of a mast.
35 Wamenipiga,” utasema, “lakini sikuumia. Wamenichapa, lakini sikuwa na hisia. Nitaamka lini? Nitatafuta kinywaji kingine.”
“They struck me, I have not been sick, They beat me, I have not known. When I awake—I seek it yet again!”
