Ecclesiastes 5

Tiakina tou waewae ina haere koe ki te whare o te Atua; he pai ke te whakatata ki te whakarongo i te hoatu i te patunga tapu a nga wairangi: kahore hoki ratou e mohio he mahi kino ta ratou.

Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil.

Kei porahurahu tou mangai, kei hohoro hoki te puaki o tetahi kupu a tou ngakau i te aroaro o te Atua; no te mea kei te rangi te Atua, a ko koe kei runga i te whenua: mo reira kia torutoru au kupu.

Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.

Ka puta mai hoki te rekanga kanohi ina nui te raruraru; me te reo o te wairangi ki te maha o nga kupu.

For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool's voice is known by multitude of words.

Ki te kiia taurangitia e koe tetahi mea ma te Atua, kei whakaroa koe ki te whakamana; e kore hoki ia e pai ki nga wairangi: whakamana e koe tau i ki taurangi ai.

When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.

He pai ke ki te kore au ki taurangi, i te puta i a koe o te kupu taurangi a kahore i whakamana e koe.

Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.

Kei tukua e koe tou mangai kia mea hara mo ou kikokiko; kaua hoki e ki ki te aroaro o te anahera, he pohehe; kia riri te Atua ki tou reo hei aha, a he iho i a ia te mahi a ou ringa?

Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?

Na konei tenei mea, na te maha o nga rekanga kanohi, o nga horihori, o nga korero maha; ko koe ia kia wehi i te Atua.

For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities: but fear thou God.

Ki te kite koe i te rawakore e tukinotia ana, a e kahakina ketia ana te whakawa raua ko te tika i te kawanatanga, kaua e miharo ki taua mea: no te mea e maharatia ana e tetahi, he tiketike ake nei i te mea tiketike; tenei ano hoki tetahi e tiketi ke ake ana i a ratou.

If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for he that is higher than the highest regardeth; and there be higher than they.

Ma te katoa ano hoki nga hua o te whenua; a ko te kingi hoki na, e mahia ana e te mara he mea mana.

Moreover the profit of the earth is for all: the king himself is served by the field.

Ko te tangata e aroha ana ki te hiriwa e kore e makona i te hiriwa; a e kore hoki te tangata e whai ana ki nga mea maha, ki nga hua. He horihori ano tenei.

He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity.

Ki te maha nga rawa, ka tokomaha ano nga tangata hei kai: he aha hoki te pai ki te tangata nana aua mea? Ko te matakitaki kau atu a ona kanohi.

When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes?

Ka reka tonu te moe a te tangata mahi, ahakoa iti tana kai, nui ranei; ko te tangata taonga ia, e kore e tukua e ana mea maha kia moe.

The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.

Tera tetahi he ngau kino i kitea e ahau i raro i te ra, ara, he taonga e puritia ana e te tangata nana, hei whakamamae ano i a ia:

There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.

A ka pau aua taonga i te raruraru kino: na, ka whanau he tama mana, kahore he mea i tona ringa.

But those riches perish by evil travail: and he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand.

Ka rite ki tona haerenga mai i te kopu o tona whaea, ka hoki tahanga atu ano ia, ka pera i tona haerenga mai, e kore ano e riro i a ia tetahi wahi mo tana mahi hei maunga atu ma tona ringa.

As he came forth of his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand.

A he he ngau kino ano hoki tenei, ara ko tona haerenga atu ka rite i nga mea katoa ki tona haerenga mai: he aha oti te pai ki a ia? ko tana i mahi ai ma te hau.

And this also is a sore evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath laboured for the wind?

A i ona ra katoa ka kai ia i roto i te pouri, ka pororaru tona ngakau, ka pangia e te mate, ka pukuriri.

All his days also he eateth in darkness, and he hath much sorrow and wrath with his sickness.

Nana, ko taku i kite ai, he mea pai, he mea ataahua, kia kai te tangata, kia inu, kia kite hoki i te pai o tona mauiui katoa i mauiui ai ia i raro i te ra i nga ra katoa e ora ai ia, e homai nei e te Atua ki a ia; nana hoki tena wahi.

Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it is his portion.

Ko nga tangata katoa hoki i homai ai e te Atua he taonga, he rawa, i tukua mai ai ki a ratou te tikanga mo te kai i tetahi wahi o aua mea, mo te tango i te wahi ma ratou, a kia koa ratou i to ratou mauiui; he mea homai tenei na te Atua.

Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God.

E kore hoki e nui tona mahara ki nga ra i ora ai ia; no te mea he koa mo tona ngakau ta te Atua i whakahoki ai ki a ia.

For he shall not much remember the days of his life; because God answereth him in the joy of his heart.