¹¶ E taku tama, tahuri ki oki whakaaro nui, kia anga tou taringa ki toku matauranga:

¹My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:

²Kia u ai koe ki te ngarahu pai, kia mau ai te matauranga i ou ngutu.

²That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.

³Ko nga ngutu hoki o te wahine ke, kei te maturuturunga iho o te honikoma, ngawari iho tona mangai i te hinu.

³For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:

⁴He kawa rawa hoki tona mutunga i te taru kawa; he koi, ano he hoari matarua.

⁴But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.

⁵Ko ona waewae e heke ana ki te mate, mau pu te reinga i ona takahanga;

⁵Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.

⁶Heoi kahore i kitea e ia te ara totika ki te ora: he kotiti ke ona ara, a kahore ia i te matau.

⁶Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.

⁷Na reira, e aku tamariki, whakarongo mai ki ahau, kei mahue hoki nga kupu a toku mangai.

⁷Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.

⁸Kia matara tou ara i a ia, kaua hoki e tata ki te tatau o tona whare;

⁸Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:

⁹Kei hoatu tou honore ki nga tangata ke, ou tau ki te hunga nanakia:

⁹Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:

¹⁰Kei makona nga tangata ke i tou kaha, kei riro ou mauiui ki te whare o te tangata ke;

¹⁰Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;

¹¹A ka tangi koe i tou whakamutunga, ina poto ou kikokiko me tou tinana.

¹¹And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,

¹²A ka mea, Katae toku kino ki te ako; katae te mauiui o toku ngakau ki te tohutohu!

¹²And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;

¹³Kihai hoki ahau i whakarongo ki te reo o oku kaiwhakaako, kihai toku taringa i anga ki te hunga e tohutohu ana i ahau.

¹³And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!

¹⁴Wahi iti kei nga kino katoa ahau i waenganui o te whakaminenga, o te huihui.

¹⁴I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.

¹⁵¶ Inumia he wai i roto i tau ake rua, me nga wai rere ano i roto i tau ake poka.

¹⁵Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.

¹⁶Kia tohatoha noa atu koia au puna wai, nga awa wai i nga huarahi?

¹⁶Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.

¹⁷Waiho ena mau anake, kauaka ma koutou tahi ko nga tangata ke.

¹⁷Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee.

¹⁸Kia manaakitia tau puna wai: kia koa ano koe ki te wahine o tou taitamarikitanga.

¹⁸Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.

¹⁹Kia rite ia ki taua mea ahuareka, ki te hata, ki te mea ataahua ki te anaterope; kia makona koe i ona u i nga wa katoa, kia matenuitia tonutia e koe tona aroha.

¹⁹Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.

²⁰He aha oti koe, e taku tama, ka matenui ai ki te wahine ke, i awhi ai i te uma o te wahine ke?

²⁰And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?

²¹Kei mua hoki i nga kanohi o Ihowa nga ara o te tangata, a e meinga ana e ia kia papatairite ona ara katoa.

²¹For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings.

²²Ko ona kino ano hei hopu i te tangata kino, hei taura ona hara e mau ai ia.

²²His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.

²³Ka mate ia, he mea kihai i whakaakona, ka pohehe i te nui o tona wairangi.

²³He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.