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

¹My son! to my wisdom give attention, To mine understanding incline thine ear,

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

²To observe thoughtfulness, And knowledge do thy lips keep.

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 honey, And smoother than oil [is] her mouth,

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

⁴And her latter end [is] bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a sword [with] mouths.

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

⁵Her feet are going down to death, Sheol do her steps take hold of.

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

⁶The path of life — lest thou ponder, Moved have her paths — thou knowest not.

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

⁷And now, ye sons, hearken to me, And turn not from sayings of my mouth.

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

⁸Keep far from off her thy way, And come not near unto the opening of her house,

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

⁹Lest thou give to others thy honour, And thy years to the fierce,

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 power, And thy labours in the house of a stranger,

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

¹¹And thou hast howled in thy latter end, In the consumption of thy flesh and thy food,

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

¹²And hast said, `How have I hated instruction, And reproof hath my heart despised,

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 I have not hearkened to the voice of my directors, And to my teachers have not inclined mine ear.

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

¹⁴As a little thing I have been all evil, In the midst of an assembly and a company.

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, Even flowing ones out of thine own well.

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

¹⁶Let thy fountains be scattered abroad, In broad places rivulets of waters.

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

¹⁷Let them be to thee for thyself, And not to 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 because of 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.

¹⁹A hind of loves, and a roe of grace! Let her loves satisfy thee at all times, In her love magnify thyself continually.

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 dost thou magnify thyself, My son, with a stranger? And embrace the bosom of a strange woman?

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 over-against the eyes of Jehovah are the ways of each, And all his paths He is pondering.

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

²²His own iniquities do capture the wicked, And with the ropes of his sin he is holden.

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

²³He dieth without instruction, And in the abundance of his folly magnifieth himself!