¹My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee.

¹¶ E taku tama, puritia aku kupu, huna aku whakahau ki roto ki a koe.

²Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye.

²Puritia aku whakahau, a ka ora; taku ture, ano ko te whatupango o tou kanohi.

³Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine heart.

³Herea ki ou maihao; tuhituhia, ko tou ngakau ano hei papa.

⁴Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman:

⁴Ki atu ki te whakaaro nui, He tuahine koe noku; kiia hoki te matauranga ko tou whanaunga wahine:

⁵That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words.

⁵Kia ai enei hei tiaki i a koe kei he i te wahine ke, i te wahine ke, he korero whakapati nei ana.

⁶For at the window of my house I looked through my casement,

⁶¶ I titiro atu hoki ahau i te matapihi o toku whare i roto i toku whakakahokaho;

⁷And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding,

⁷A i matakitaki ahau i roto i nga kuware, i kite i roto i nga taitama, i tetahi tamaiti kahore rawa he whakaaro,

⁸Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house,

⁸E haere ana i te ara i te wahi tata e piko atu ai ki a ia, a haere ana ia i te ara ki tona whare.

⁹In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night:

⁹I te kakarauritanga, i te ahiahi o te ra, i te titiwhatanga o te po, i te pouri kerekere.

¹⁰And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.

¹⁰Na, kua tutaki tetahi wahine ki a ia, he kakahu puremu tona, he ngakau hianga.

¹¹(She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house:

¹¹He mangai koroki tona, he tohetohe; ko ona waewae, kahore e tau ki tona whare:

¹²Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.)

¹²Inaianei kei nga ara ia, inamata kei nga waharoa, e tauwhanga ana i nga kokinga katoa.

¹³So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him,

¹³Koia i hopukia ai ia e ia, kei te kihi i a ia, a ka mea atu ki a ia, me te whakatoi ano i tona mata,

¹⁴I have peace offerings with me; this day have I payed my vows.

¹⁴He patunga mo te pai kei ahau; no tenei ra nei ahau i whakamana ai i aku kupu taurangi;

¹⁵Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee.

¹⁵Koia ahau i haere mai ai ki te whakatau i a koe, ki te ata rapu i tou mata, a ka kitea nei koe e ahau.

¹⁶I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt.

¹⁶Ko toku moenga kua horahia e ahau, whakapaipai rawa ki te kaitaka, ki nga kakahu purepure no te rinena o Ihipa.

¹⁷I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.

¹⁷Kua ruia e ahau toku moenga ki nga mea whakakakara, ki te maira, ki te aroe, ki te hinamona.

¹⁸Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves.

¹⁸Haere mai, kia whaowhina taua ki te aroha, a ao noa; kia ora o taua ngakau i te aroha.

¹⁹For the goodman is not at home, he is gone a long journey:

¹⁹Kahore hoki taku tane i te whare: kua riro ia, he haere tawhiti:

²⁰He hath taken a bag of money with him, and will come home at the day appointed.

²⁰I maua atu e ia he putea moni i tona ringa; ka hoki mai ano ia i te kowhititanga o te marama.

²¹With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him.

²¹He maha no ana korero whakawai, riro ana ia i a ia ki tana; na te whakapati a ona ngutu ka kumea atu ia e ia.

²²He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks;

²²Haere tonu ia i muri i a ia, ano he kau e haere ana kia patua, he kuware ranei e haere ana ki nga rakau here waewae e whiua ai te he;

²³Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.

²³A tu noa te tao ki tona ate puta rawa; rite tonu ia ki te manu e hohoro ana ki te mahanga, te mohio he matenga tera mona.

²⁴Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth.

²⁴¶ No reira, e aku tamariki, whakarongo ki ahau, maharatia nga kupu a toku mangai.

²⁵Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths.

²⁵Kei peau ke tou ngakau ki ona ara, kei kotiti ke ki ona huarahi.

²⁶For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her.

²⁶He tokomaha hoki nga tangata i tu, i hinga i a ia, ae ra, he ope nui rawa tana i patu ai.

²⁷Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.

²⁷He huarahi tona whare ki te reinga, e anga ana ki raro ki nga ruma o te mate.