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, Thou considerest diligently that which [is] before thee,
2 And thou hast put a knife to thy throat, If thou [art] a man of appetite.
3 Have no desire to his dainties, seeing it [is] lying food.
4 Labour not to make wealth, From thine own understanding cease, Dost thou cause thine eyes to fly upon it? Then it is not.
5 For wealth maketh to itself wings, As an eagle it flieth to the heavens.
6 Eat not the bread of an evil eye, And have no desire to his dainties,
7 For as he hath thought in his soul, so [is] he, `Eat and drink,` saith he to thee, And his heart [is] not with thee.
8 Thy morsel thou hast eaten thou dost vomit up, And hast marred thy words that [are] sweet.
9 In the ears of a fool speak not, For he treadeth on the wisdom of thy words.
10 Remove not a border of olden times, And into fields of the fatherless enter not,
11 For their Redeemer [is] strong, He doth plead their cause with thee.
12 Bring in to instruction thy heart, And thine ear to sayings of knowledge.
13 Withhold not from a youth chastisement, When thou smitest him with a rod he dieth not.
14 Thou with a rod smitest him, And his soul from Sheol thou deliverest.
15 My son, if thy heart hath been wise, My heart rejoiceth, even mine,
16 And my reins exult when thy lips speak uprightly.
17 Let not thy heart be envious at sinners, But -- in the fear of Jehovah all the day.
18 For, is there a posterity? Then thy hope is not cut off.
19 Hear thou, my son, and be wise, And make happy in the way thy heart,
20 Be not thou among quaffers of wine, Among gluttonous ones of flesh,
21 For the quaffer and glutton become poor, And drowsiness clotheth with rags.
22 Hearken to thy father, who begat thee, And despise not thy mother when she hath become old.
23 Truth buy, and sell not, Wisdom, and instruction, and understanding,
24 The father of the righteous rejoiceth greatly, The begetter of the wise rejoiceth in him.
25 Rejoice doth thy father and thy mother, Yea, she that bare thee is joyful.
26 Give, my son, thy heart to me, And let thine eyes watch my ways.
27 For a harlot [is] a deep ditch, And a strange woman [is] a strait pit.
28 She also, as catching prey, lieth in wait, And the treacherous among men she increaseth.
29 Who hath wo? who hath sorrow? Who hath contentions? who hath plaint? Who hath wounds without cause? Who hath redness of eyes?
30 Those tarrying by the wine, Those going in to search out mixed wine.
31 See not wine when it showeth itself red, When it giveth in the cup its colour, It goeth up and down through the upright.
32 Its latter end -- as a serpent it biteth, And as a basilisk it stingeth.
33 Thine eyes see strange women, And thy heart speaketh perverse things.
34 And thou hast been as one lying down in the heart of the sea, And as one lying down on the top of a mast.
35 `They smote me, I have not been sick, They beat me, I have not known. When I awake -- I seek it yet again!`