Eclesiastes 5

Te Wehi, te Māhaki, te Manawa

1 Tiakina tōu waewae ina haere koe ki te whare o te Atua; he pai kē te whakatata ki te whakarongo i te hoatu i te patunga tapu a ngā wairangi; kāhore hoki rātou e mōhio he mahi kino tā rātou.

2 Kei pōrahurahu tōu māngai,

kei hohoro hoki te puaki o tētahi kupu

a tōu ngākau i te aroaro o te Atua;

nō te mea kei te rangi te Atua,

ā, ko koe kei runga i te whenua;

mō reira kia torutoru āu kupu.

3 Ka puta mai hoki te rekanga kanohi ina nui te raruraru;

me te reo o te wairangi ki te maha o ngā kupu.

4 Ki te kīia taurangitia e koe tētahi mea mā te Atua, kei whakaroa koe ki te whakamana. E kore hoki ia e pai ki ngā wairangi; whakamanā e koe tāu i kī taurangi ai. 5 He pai kē ki te kore āu kī taurangi, i te puta i a koe o te kupu taurangi, ā, kāhore i whakamana e koe. 6 Kei tukua e koe tōu māngai kia mea hara mō ōu kikokiko; kaua hoki e kī ki te aroaro o te anahera, "He pōhēhē." Kia riri te Atua ki tōu reo hei aha, ā, hē iho i a ia te mahi a ōu ringa?

7 Nā konei tēnei mea, nā te maha o ngā rekanga kanohi, o ngā horihori, o ngā kōrero maha; ko koe ia kia wehi i te Atua.

8 Ki te kite koe i te rawakore e tūkinotia ana, ā, e kāhakina kētia ana te whakawā rāua ko te tika i te kāwanatanga, kaua e mīharo ki taua mea; nō te mea e maharatia ana e tētahi, he tiketike ake nei i te mea tiketike; tēnei anō hoki tētahi e tiketike ake ana i a rātou. 9 Mā te katoa anō hoki ngā hua o te whenua; ā, ko te kīngi hoki, nā, e mahia ana e te māra he mea māna.

10 Ko te tangata e aroha ana ki te hiriwa e kore e mākona i te hiriwa;

ā, e kore hoki te tangata e whai ana ki ngā mea maha, ki ngā hua.

He horihori anō tēnei.

11 Ki te maha ngā rawa,

ka tokomaha anō ngā tāngata hei kai;

he aha hoki te pai ki te tangata nāna aua mea?

Ko te mātakitaki kau atu a ōna kanohi.

12 Ka reka tonu te moe a te tangata mahi,

ahakoa iti tāna kai, nui rānei;

ko te tangata taonga ia,

e kore e tukua e āna mea maha kia moe.

13 Tērā tētahi he ngau kino i kitea e ahau i raro i te rā,

arā, he taonga e puritia ana e te tangata nāna, hei whakamamae anō i a ia;

14 ā, ka pau aua taonga i te raruraru kino.

Nā, ka whānau he tama māna,

kāhore he mea i tōna ringa.

15 Ka rite ki tōna haerenga mai i te kōpū o tōna whaea,

ka hoki tahanga atu anō ia,

ka pērā i tōna haerenga mai,

e kore anō e riro i a ia tētahi wāhi mō tāna mahi hei maunga atu mā tōna ringa.

16 Ā, he hē ngau kino anō hoki tēnei:

arā ko tōna haerenga atu ka rite i ngā mea katoa ki tōna haerenga mai;

he aha oti te pai ki a ia?

Ko tāna i mahi ai mā te hau.

17 Ā, i ōna rā katoa ka kai ia i roto i te pōuri,

ka pororaru tōna ngākau ka pāngia e te mate, ka pukuriri.

18 Nanā, ko tāku i kite ai, he mea pai, he mea ātaahua, kia kai te tangata, kia inu, kia kite hoki i te pai o tōna māuiui katoa i māuiui ai ia i raro i te rā i ngā rā katoa e ora ai ia, e hōmai nei e te Atua ki a ia; nāna hoki tēnā wāhi. 19 Ko ngā tāngata katoa hoki i hōmai ai e te Atua he taonga, he rawa, i tukua mai ai ki a rātou te tikanga mō te kai i tētahi wāhi o aua mea, mō te tango i te wāhi mā rātou, ā, kia koa rātou i tō rātou māuiui – he mea hōmai tēnei nā te Atua. 20 E kore hoki e nui tōna mahara ki ngā rā i ora ai ia; nō te mea he koa mō tōna ngākau tā te Atua i whakahoki ai ki a ia.

1 Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God; for to draw nigh to hear is better than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they know not that they do evil. 2 Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thy heart be hasty to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few. 3 For a dream cometh with a multitude of business, and a fool’s voice with a multitude of words. 4 When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou vowest. 5 Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. 6 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 thy hands? 7 For in the multitude of dreams there are vanities, and in many words: but fear thou God.

8 If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and the violent taking away of justice and righteousness in a province, marvel not at the matter: for one higher than the high regardeth; and there are higher than they. 9 Moreover the profit of the earth is for all: the king himself is served by the field.

10 He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance, with increase: this also is vanity. 11 When goods increase, they are increased that eat them; and what advantage is there to the owner thereof, save the beholding of them with his eyes? 12 The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much; but the fulness of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.

13 There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept by the owner thereof to his hurt: 14 and those riches perish by evil adventure; and if he hath begotten a son, there is nothing in his hand. 15 As he came forth from his mother’s womb, naked shall he go again as he came, and shall take nothing for his labor, which he may carry away in his hand. 16 And this also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that he laboreth for the wind? 17 All his days also he eateth in darkness, and he is sore vexed, and hath sickness and wrath.

18 Behold, that which I have seen to be good and to be comely is for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy good in all his labor, wherein he laboreth under the sun, all the days of his life which God hath given him: for this is his portion. 19 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 labor—this is the gift of God. 20 For he shall not much remember the days of his life; because God answereth him in the joy of his heart.