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 you will receive my words, and store up my commandments within you;

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

So as to turn your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding;

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

Yes, if you call out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding;

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

If you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures:

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

then you will understand the fear of Yahweh, 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 Yahweh gives wisdom. Out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.

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 lays up sound wisdom for the upright. He is a shield to those who walk in integrity;

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

that he may guard the paths of justice, and preserve the way of his saints.

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 you will understand righteousness and justice, equity and every good path.

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

For wisdom will enter into your heart. Knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.

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

Discretion will watch over you. Understanding will keep you,

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 you from the way of evil, from the men who speak perverse things;

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

who forsake 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 the perverseness of evil;

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

who are crooked in their ways, and wayward 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 you from the strange woman, even from the foreigner 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 friend 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.

for her house leads down to death, her paths to the departed spirits.

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 who go to her return again, neither do they attain to 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 you 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 will dwell in the land. The perfect will 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 will be cut off from the land. The treacherous will be rooted out of it.