¹¶ Ki te tino kaiwhakatangi, ki a Ierutunu. He himene na Rawiri. I mea ahau, Ka ata whakaaro ahau ki oku ara, kei hara toku arero; ka tiakina toku mangai, paraire rawa, i te mea kei toku aroaro te tangata kino.

¹To the Overseer, to Jeduthun. — A Psalm of David. I have said, `I observe my ways, Against sinning with my tongue, I keep for my mouth a curb, while the wicked [is] before me.`

²I whakamoroki ahau, i wahangu, kihai i puaki taku kupu, ahakoa pai; a ka oho toku mamae.

²I was dumb [with] silence, I kept silent from good, and my pain is excited.

³Werawera ana toku ngakau i roto i ahau; i ahau e whakaaro ana ka ka te ahi, a ka korero toku arero.

³Hot [is] my heart within me, In my meditating doth the fire burn, I have spoken with my tongue.

⁴E Ihowa, meinga ahau kia matau ki toku mutunga, ki te maha hoki o oku ra, e hia ranei: kia matau ai ahau he mea memeha noa ahau.

⁴`Cause me to know, O Jehovah, mine end, And the measure of my days — what it [is],` I know how frail I [am].

⁵Nana, he whanuitanga ringa oku ra kua homai nei e koe; he kahore noa iho ano oku tau i tou aroaro: ahakoa u noa te tu o nga tangata katoa, he mea memeha kau. (Hera.

⁵Lo, handbreadths Thou hast made my days, And mine age [is] as nothing before Thee, Only, all vanity [is] every man set up. Selah.

⁶He pono kei roto i te atarangi te tangata e kopikopiko noa ana; he pono e ohorere noa ana ratou: e ami ana ia i te taonga, a kahore e matau ma wai ranei e kohi.

⁶Only, in an image doth each walk habitually, Only, [in] vain, they are disquieted, He heapeth up and knoweth not who gathereth them.

⁷¶ Na he aha taku e tatari atu nei, e te Ariki? Ko koe taku e tumanako ai.

⁷And, now, what have I expected? O Lord, my hope — it [is] of Thee.

⁸Whakaorangia ahau i aku mahi tutu katoa: kaua ahau e waiho hei tawainga ma te wairangi.

⁸From all my transgressions deliver me, A reproach of the fool make me not.

⁹Wahangu ana ahau, kihai i kuihi toku mangai: he meatanga hoki tenei nau.

⁹I have been dumb, I open not my mouth, Because Thou — Thou hast done [it].

¹⁰Nekehia atu i ahau tau whiu: ka ngaro ahau i te pakinga a tou ringa.

¹⁰Turn aside from off me Thy stroke, From the striving of Thy hand I have been consumed.

¹¹Ka pakia e koe te tangata, ka whakatupehupehutia mo te hara, ka meinga e koe tona ataahua kia memeha, kia pera me te purehurehu: he pono he mea teka noa nga tangata katoa. (Hera.

¹¹With reproofs against iniquity, Thou hast corrected man, And dost waste as a moth his desirableness, Only, vanity [is] every man. Selah.

¹²Whakarongo ki taku inoi, e Ihowa, kia titaha mai tou taringa ki taku karanga; kei wahangu koe ki oku roimata: he heke hoki ahau nau, he manene, he pera me oku matua katoa.

¹²Hear my prayer, O Jehovah, And [to] my cry give ear, Unto my tear be not silent, For a sojourner I [am] with Thee, A settler like all my fathers.

¹³Kia ata hanga ki ahau, kia ta ai toku manawa, keiwha haere atu ahau i konei, a ka kahore noa iho.

¹³Look from me, and I brighten up before I go and am not!