1 Ki te noho tahi korua ko te rangatira ki te kai, ata whakaaroa marietia tera i tou aroaro:

2 Whakapakia he maripi ki tou korokoro, ki te mea he tangata kakai koe.

3 Kaua e hiahia ki ana mea reka: he kai tinihanga hoki era.

4 Kaua e taruke ki te mea taonga: kati tau mea ki tou matauranga.

5 E anga mai ranei ou kanohi ki taua mea korekore nei? He pono hoki ka whai parirau te taonga, koia ano kei te ekara, rere ana whaka te rangi.

6 Kaua e kainga te kai a te tangata kanohi kino, kei minamina hoki koe ki ana mea reka.

7 Ko tana hoki e mea ai i roto i a ia, pera tonu ia: E kai, e inu; koia tana kupu ki a koe; kahore ia ona ngakau ki a koe.

8 Ko te kongakonga i kainga e koe, ka ruakina e koe, ka maumauria ano hoki au kupu reka.

9 Kaua e korero ki nga taringa o te kuware; ka whakahawea hoki ia ki te whakaaro nui o au kupu.

10 Kei whakanekehia e koe te rohe tawhito; kei haere koe ki nga mara a te pani:

11 No te mea he kaha to ratou kaiwhakaora; ka tohea e ia ta ratou tohe ki a koe.

12 Anga atu tou ngakau ki te ako, me ou taringa ki nga kupu o te matauranga.

13 Kaua e tohungia te whiu ki te tamaiti: ki te patua hoki ia e koe ki te rakau, e kore ia e mate.

14 Tatatia ia e koe ki te rakau, a ka whakaorangia e koe tona wairua i te reinga.

15 E taku tama, ki te whakaaro nui tou ngakau, ka koa hoki toku ngakau, ae ra, toku nei ano:

16 Ae ra, ka hari oku whatumanawa, ina korero ou ngutu i nga mea tika.

17 Kei hae tou ngakau ki te hunga hara; engari kia wehi koe ki a Ihowa, a pau noa te ra.

18 He pono hoki tera ano he whakautu; e kore ano hoki tau i tumanako ai e hatepea atu.

19 Whakarongo ra, e taku tama, kia whai whakaaro hoki koe, a whakatikaia tou ngakau i te ara.

20 Kei uru ki te hunga kakai waina; ki te hunga pukukai kikokiko:

21 No te mea ka tutuki tahi te tangata inu raua ko te tangata kakai ki te rawakore; he tawhetawhe hoki te kakahu a te momoe mo te tangata.

22 Whakarongo ki tou papa nana koe; kaua hoki e whakahawea ki tou whaea ina ruruhi ia.

23 Hokona te pono, kaua hoki e whakawhitiwhitia; ae ra, te whakaaro nui, te ako hoki, me te matauranga.

24 Nui atu hoki te koa o te papa o te tangata tika; a, ko te tangata e whanau he tama whakaaro nui mana, ka hari ia ki a ia.

25 Kia hari tou papa raua ko tou whaea, ina, kia koa te wahine i whanau ai koe.

26 E taku tama, homai tou ngakau ki ahau, kia manako ano hoki ou kanohi ki aku ara.

27 No te mea he rua hohonu te wahine kairau; he poka kuiti te wahine ke.

28 Ae ra, ka whanga ia ano he kaipahua, a ka whakatokomahatia e ia nga tangata poka ke.

29 Ko wai e aue? Ko wai e tangi? Ko wai e totohe? Ko wai e ngangautia? Ko wai e maru, he mea takekore? Ko wai e whero tonu ona kanohi?

30 Ko te hunga e noho roa ana ki te waina; ko te hunga e haere ana ki te rapu i te waina whakaranu.

31 Kaua e titiro ki te waina i te mea e whero ana, ina puta tona kara i roto i te kapu, ina mania tona heke.

32 Tona tukunga iho ano he nakahi e ngau ana, koia ano kei te wero a te neke.

33 E kite hoki ou kanohi i nga mea rereke, a ka puta he kupu rereke i tou ngakau.

34 Ae ra, ka rite koe ki te tangata e takoto ana i waenga moana, ki te tangata ranei e takoto ana i te tihi o te rewa.

35 A ka mea koe, Patua ana ahau e ratou, a kihai ahau i mamae; tatatia ana ahau e ratou, a kihai ahau i mohio: a hea ahau ara ake ai? Ka rapua ano e ahau.

1 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler,

Consider diligently him that is before thee;

2 And put a knife to thy throat,

If thou be a man given to appetite.

3 Be not desirous of his dainties;

Seeing they are deceitful food.

4 Weary not thyself to be rich;

Cease from thine own wisdom.

5 Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not?

For riches certainly make themselves wings,

Like an eagle that flieth toward heaven.

6 Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye,

Neither desire thou his dainties:

7 For as he thinketh within himself, so is he:

Eat and drink, saith he to thee;

But his heart is not with thee.

8 The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up,

And lose thy sweet words.

9 Speak not in the hearing of a fool;

For he will despise the wisdom of thy words.

10 Remove not the ancient landmark;

And enter not into the fields of the fatherless:

11 For their Redeemer is strong;

He will plead their cause against thee.

12 Apply thy heart unto instruction,

And thine ears to the words of knowledge.

13 Withhold not correction from the child;

For if thou beat him with the rod, he will not die.

14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod,

And shalt deliver his soul from Sheol.

15 My son, if thy heart be wise,

My heart will be glad, even mine:

16 Yea, my heart will rejoice,

When thy lips speak right things.

17 Let not thy heart envy sinners;

But be thou in the fear of Jehovah all the day long:

18 For surely there is a reward;

And thy hope shall not be cut off.

19 Hear thou, my son, and be wise,

And guide thy heart in the way.

20 Be not among winebibbers,

Among gluttonous eaters of flesh:

21 For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty;

And drowsiness will clothe a man with rags.

22 Hearken unto thy father that begat thee,

And despise not thy mother when she is old.

23 Buy the truth, and sell it not;

Yea, wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.

24 The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice;

And he that begetteth a wise child will have joy of him.

25 Let thy father and thy mother be glad,

And let her that bare thee rejoice.

26 My son, give me thy heart;

And let thine eyes delight in my ways.

27 For a harlot is a deep ditch;

And a foreign woman is a narrow pit.

28 Yea, she lieth in wait as a robber,

And increaseth the treacherous among men.

29 Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions?

Who hath complaining? who hath wounds without cause?

Who hath redness of eyes?

30 They that tarry long at the wine;

They that go to seek out mixed wine.

31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red,

When it sparkleth in the cup,

When it goeth down smoothly:

32 At the last it biteth like a serpent,

And stingeth like an adder.

33 Thine eyes shall behold strange things,

And thy heart shall utter perverse things.

34 Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea,

Or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.

35 They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not hurt;

They have beaten me, and I felt it not:

When shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.