< Mmebusɛm 23 >

1 Sɛ wo ne ɔhene bi to nsa didi a, hwɛ nea esi wʼanim no yiye,
When you sit to eat with a ruler, Diligently consider that which [is] before you,
2 Sɛ woyɛ adidibrada a, hyɛ wo ho so.
And you have put a knife to your throat, If you [are] a man of appetite.
3 Nni nʼaduan akɔnnɔ akɔnnɔ no akyi, efisɛ saa aduan no daadaa nnipa.
Have no desire to his delicacies, seeing it [is] lying food.
4 Mmiri wo mogya ani mpɛ sika; hu nyansa na tɔ wo bo ase.
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 Wʼani bɔɔ sika so ara pɛ, na atu ayera, ampa ara ebefuw ntaban na atu akɔ wim sɛ ɔkɔre.
For wealth makes wings to itself, It flies to the heavens as an eagle.
6 Nni obi a ɔyɛ pɛpɛe aduan, nni nʼakɔnnɔ aduan akyi;
Do not eat the bread of an evil eye, And have no desire to his delicacies,
7 efisɛ ɔyɛ obi a bere biara osusuw sika ho. Ɔka se, “Didi na nom,” nanso ɛnyɛ ne koma mu.
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 Kakra a woadi no wobɛfe, na ɛno nti wo nkamfo so remma mfaso.
You vomit up your morsel you have eaten, And have marred your words that [are] sweet.
9 Nkasa nkyerɛ ɔkwasea, efisɛ ɔremfa nyansa a ɛwɔ wo kasa mu no.
Do not speak in the ears of a fool, For he treads on the wisdom of your words.
10 Ntutu tete abo a wɔde ato hye ngu, na ntra ɔhye nkɔ ayisaa mfuw mu,
Do not remove a border of ancient times, And do not enter into fields of the fatherless,
11 efisɛ wɔn Gyefo yɛ den, na obedi wɔn asɛm ama wɔn.
For their Redeemer [is] strong, He pleads their cause with you.
12 Ma wo koma mmra nkyerɛkyerɛ so, na wɛn wʼaso tie nimdeɛ.
Bring your heart to instruction, And your ear to sayings of knowledge.
13 Ntwentwɛn abofra nteɛso so; sɛ wode abaa teɛ no a, ɔrenwu.
Do not withhold discipline from a youth, When you strike him with a rod he does not die.
14 Fa abaa twe nʼaso na gye ne kra fi owu mu. (Sheol h7585)
You strike him with a rod, And you deliver his soul from Sheol. (Sheol h7585)
15 Me ba, sɛ wo koma hu nyansa a, ɛno de, me koma ani begye;
My son, if your heart has been wise, My heart rejoices, even mine,
16 sɛ wʼano ka nea ɛteɛ a me mu ade nyinaa ani begye.
And my reins exult when your lips speak uprightly.
17 Mma wʼani mmere abɔnefo, mmom bɔ Awurade suro ho mmɔden bere biara.
Do not let your heart be envious at sinners, But—in the fear of YHWH all the day.
18 Ampa ara anidaso wɔ hɔ ma wo daakye, na wʼanidaso renyɛ ɔkwa.
For is there a posterity? Then your hope is not cut off.
19 Me ba, tie, na hu nyansa, ma wo koma mfa ɔkwantrenee so.
Hear, my son, and be wise, And make your heart blessed in the way,
20 Mfa wo ho mmɔ akɔwensafo anaasɛ wɔn a wɔpɛ nam mmoroso ho,
Do not become drunk with wine, Among gluttonous ones of flesh,
21 efisɛ, akɔwensafo ne adidibradafo bɛyɛ ahiafo, na anikum fura wɔn ntamagow.
For the drunkard and glutton become poor, And drowsiness clothes with rags.
22 Tie wʼagya a ɔwoo wo no, na sɛ wo na bɔ aberewa a, mmu no animtiaa.
Listen to your father, who begot you, And do not despise your mother when she has become old.
23 Tɔ nokware na ntɔn da; nya nyansa, ahohyɛso ne nhumu.
Buy truth, and do not sell, Wisdom, and instruction, and understanding,
24 Ɔtreneeni agya wɔ anigye bebree; nea ɔwɔ ɔba nyansafo no ani gye ne ho.
The father of the righteous rejoices greatly, The begetter of the wise rejoices in him.
25 Ma wʼagya ne wo na ani nnye; ma ɔbea a ɔwoo wo no nnya ahosɛpɛw.
Your father and your mother rejoice, Indeed, she bearing you is joyful.
26 Me ba, fa wo koma ma me na ma wʼani nkɔ mʼakwan ho,
Give, my son, your heart to me, And let your eyes watch my ways.
27 na oguamanfo yɛ amoa donkudonku ɔyere huhuni yɛ ɔdaadaafo.
For a harlot [is] a deep ditch, And a strange woman [is] a narrow pit.
28 Ɔtɛw, twɛn, te sɛ ɔkwanmukafo, na ɔma mmarima mu atorofo dɔɔso.
She also, as catching prey, lies in wait, And she increases the treacherous among men.
29 Hena na wɔadome no? Hena na odi awerɛhow? Hena na odi aperepere? Hena na onwiinwii? Hena na ɔwɔ atape nko ara? Hena na mogya ada nʼani so?
Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaint? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes?
30 Wɔn a wɔkyɛ nsa ho, na wɔka nsa a wɔafrafra hwɛ.
Those lingering by the wine, Those going in to search out mixed wine.
31 Nhwɛ nsa ani kɔkɔɔ no haa, bere a ɛretwa yerɛw yerɛw wɔ kuruwa mu, na ɛkɔ yɔɔ no.
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 Awiei no, ɛka te sɛ ɔwɔ na ɛwɔ bɔre te sɛ ahurutoa.
Its latter end—it bites as a serpent, And it stings as a viper.
33 Wʼani behu nneɛma a wunhuu da, na woadwene nneɛma basabasa ho.
Your eyes see strange women, And your heart speaks perverse things.
34 Wobɛtɔ ntintan te sɛ hyɛn mu dwumayɛni a, okura hyɛn dua a, ɛrehinhim mu den, na ehinhim wɔ po so.
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 Na wobɛka se, “Wɔbɔ me, nanso mimpira. Wɔboro me, nanso mente ɔyaw biara. Bere bɛn na menyan akɔpɛ nsa anom bio?”
“They struck me, I have not been sick, They beat me, I have not known. When I awake—I seek it yet again!”

< Mmebusɛm 23 >