1 E taku tama, ki te tango koe i aku kupu, ki te huna i aku whakahau ki roto ki a koe;

¶ My son, if thou wilt receive my words and hide my commandments within thee

2 A ka tahuri tou taringa ki te whakaaro nui, ka anga ano tou ngakau ki te matauranga;

so that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom and apply thine heart to intelligence,

3 A e ra, ki te mea ka karangarangatia e koe te matauranga, a ka puaki tou reo ki te ngakau mohio;

yea, if thou criest for understanding and givest thy voice unto intelligence,

4 K i te rapua hoki ia e koe ano he hiriwa, ki te kimihia ano he taonga huna;

if thou seekest her as silver and searchest for her as for hid treasures,

5 K o reira koe matau ai ki te wehi o Ihowa, kite ai i te mohio ki te Atua.

then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.

6 M a Ihowa hoki e homai te whakaaro nui; no tona mangai te matauranga me te ngakau mohio.

For the LORD gives wisdom; out of his mouth comes knowledge and intelligence.

7 E rongoatia ana e ia te whakaaro nui ma te hunga tika; he whakangungu rakau ia mo te hunga he tapatahi nei te haere;

He keeps the person of the upright; he is a buckler to those that walk perfectly,

8 K ia tiakina ai e ia nga ara o te whakawa, kia tohungia ai te ara o tana hunga tapu.

keeping the paths of judgment and the way of his merciful ones.

9 K o reira koe mohio ai ki te tika, ki te whakawa, ki te mea ano e rite ana, ae ra, ki nga ara pai katoa.

Then shalt thou understand righteousness and judgment and equity, yea, every good path.

10 K a uru hoki te whakaaro nui ki roto ki tou ngakau, a ka reka te matauranga ki tou wairua;

¶ When wisdom enters into thine heart and knowledge is sweet unto thy soul,

11 K a ai te ngarahu pai hei tiaki i a koe, te ngakau mohio hei pupuri i a koe;

discretion shall preserve thee, intelligence shall keep thee

12 H ei kukume mai i a koe i te ara o te kino, i te tangata e puta ke ana ana korero;

to deliver thee from the evil way, from the man that speaks perversion,

13 I te hunga e whakarere nei i nga ara o te tika, e haere ana i nga ara o te pouri;

who leave the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness,

14 E koa ana, i a ratou e mahi ana i te kino, e hari ana ki nga tikanga parori ke o te kino;

who rejoice to do evil and delight in wicked perversion,

15 H e ara kopikopiko o ratou, he whanoke ratou i o ratou huarahi:

whose ways are crooked, and they are crooked in their paths;

16 H ei whakaora i a koe i te wahine tauhou, i te wahine tauhou e whakapati nei ki ana kupu;

to deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger who flatters with her words,

17 K ua whakarerea nei e ia te hoa o tona tamahinetanga, kua wareware ki te kawenata o tona Atua.

who forsakes the prince of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God.

18 E heke atu ana hoki tona whare ki te mate, ona ara ki nga tupapaku.

Therefore her house inclines unto death, and her paths unto the dead.

19 K o te hunga katoa e haere atu ana ki a ia e kore e hoki mai; e kore ano e mau i a ratou nga ara o te ora.

None that go unto her return again, neither do they take hold of the paths of life.

20 A ka haere koe i nga ara o nga tangata pai, ka mau ano ki nga ara o te hunga tika.

That thou may walk in the way of good men and keep the paths of the righteous.

21 K a noho hoki te hunga tika ki te whenua; ka mau te hunga ngakau tapatahi ki reira.

For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.

22 K a hatepea atu ia te hunga kino i runga i te whenua; ka hutia atu i reira te hunga he kopeka ta ratou mahi.

But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.