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

¹My son, pay attention to my wisdom. Turn your ear to my understanding:

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

²that you may maintain discretion, that your lips may preserve 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 an adulteress drip honey. Her mouth is smoother than oil,

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

⁴But in the end she is as bitter as wormwood, and as 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 lead straight to Sheol Sheol is the place of the dead. .

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

⁶She gives no thought to the way of life. Her ways are crooked, and she doesn’t know it.

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

⁷Now therefore, my sons, listen to me. Don’t depart from the words of my mouth.

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

⁸Remove your way far from her. Don’t come near the door of her house,

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

⁹lest you give your honor to others, and your years to the cruel one;

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

¹⁰lest strangers feast on your wealth, and your labors enrich another man’s house.

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

¹¹You will groan at your latter end, when your flesh and your body are consumed,

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

¹²and say, “How I have 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.

¹³neither have I obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor turned my ear to those who instructed me!

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

¹⁴I have come to the brink of utter ruin, in the midst of the gathered assembly.”

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

¹⁵Drink water out of your own cistern, running water out of your own well.

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

¹⁶Should your springs overflow in the streets, streams of water in the public squares?

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

¹⁷Let them be for yourself alone, not for strangers with you.

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

¹⁸Let your spring be blessed. Rejoice in the wife of your 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 loving doe and a graceful deer— let her breasts satisfy you at all times. Be captivated 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?

²⁰For why should you, my son, be captivated with an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another?

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 Yahweh. He examines all his paths.

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

²²The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare him. The cords of his sin hold him firmly.

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

²³He will die for lack of instruction. In the greatness of his folly, he will go astray.