The Foolishness of Unfaithfulness
1 My son, pay close attention
and don't forget
what I tell you to do.
2 Obey me, and you will live!
Let my instructions be
your greatest treasure.
3 Keep them at your fingertips
and write them
in your mind.
4 Let wisdom be your sister
and make common sense
your closest friend.
5 They will protect you
from the flattering words
of someone else's wife.
6 From the window of my house,
I once happened to see
7 some foolish young men.
8 It was late in the evening,
sometime after dark.
9 One of these young men
turned the corner
and was walking by the house
of an unfaithful wife.
10 She was dressed fancy
like a woman of the street
with only one thing in mind.
11 She was one of those women
who are loud and restless
and never stay at home,
12 who walk street after street,
waiting to trap a man.
13 She grabbed him and kissed him,
and with no sense of shame,
she said:
14 “I had to offer a sacrifice,
and there is enough meat
left over for a feast.
15 So I came looking for you,
and here you are!
16 The sheets on my bed
are bright-colored cloth
from Egypt.
17 And I have covered it
with perfume made of myrrh,
aloes, and cinnamon.
18 “Let's go there
and make love all night.
19 My husband is traveling,
and he's far away.
20 He took a lot of money along,
and he won't be back home
before the middle
of the month.”
21 And so, she tricked him
with all of her sweet talk
and her flattery.
22 At once he followed her
like an ox on the way
to be slaughtered,
or like a fool on the way
to be punished
23 and killed with arrows.
He was no more than a bird
rushing into a trap,
without knowing
it would cost him his life.
24 My son, pay close attention
to what I have said.
25 Don't even think about
that kind of woman
or let yourself be misled
by someone like her.
26 Such a woman has caused
the downfall and destruction
of a lot of men.
27 Her house is a one-way street
leading straight down
to the world of the dead.
Kukuma omahongaulo ombwada
1 Omumwange, diinina eendjovo dange, u tuvikilile mwoove oipango yange, 2 diinina oipango yange, opo nee to kala nomwenyo, u diinine elongo lange ngaashi omuni yeisho loye. 3 I manga kominwe doye, i shangela moshipelende shomutima woye. 4 Lombwela ounongo: “Oove omumwameme omukainhu!” Eendunge di luka Omulineekelwa woye. 5 Opo do di ku amene komukainhu wovanhu, komuhaelwa, ou ta popi neendjovo delihalifo.
6 Osheshi ame nda talela mo mekende leumbo lange, nda vandamena mombululu yekende lange, 7 ndele nda mona mokati kovashima, mokati kovanyasha nda didilika omumati ehe neendunge, 8 ou a enda nepandavanda, ta i kokolonela yomukainhu ndele ta katukile langhele lwokeumbo laye, 9 moshiwiwili, onguloshi yefiku momulaulu, mokati koufiku, 10 ndele tala omukainhu umwe te mu shakeneke, a djala ngaashi omuholi woipala e nomutima tau hongaula. 11 Ye ehe netulumuko nelilongelelo, eemhadi itadi dulu okukala meumbo laye; 12 ta i pondje, natango ta i meendabo, ndele ta kala ofika pokolonela keshe ndele ta nangele. 13 Ndele ye okwe mu kwata ndele te mu xupita, ndele ta ti kuye e noshipala shihe nohoni: 14 “Ame ndi nokuyamba omapanduloyambo, nena eli ame nda wanifa omaudaneko ange, 15 Onghee hano nda pita pondje ndi ku shakeneke, ndi konge oshipala shoye, ndele nde ku mona. 16 Ombete yange nde i yala omalapi okombete, oiyata yomavala yoliina yomuEgipiti. 17 Ombete yange nde i shamina namirha, aloe nokaneli. 18 Ila, natu kolweni kohole fiyo ongula, natu nyakukweni pamwe mohole. 19 Osheshi omulumenhu ke mo meumbo, okwa ya a ka endaenda kokule, 20 okwa kufa okakutu koimaliwa. Efiku lomutootoo wohani ye ota ka alukila keumbo.” 21 Ye okwe mu hongaula nokupopya kwaye kuhapu, molwomufenhu womilungu daye ye okwe mu yula. 22 Ye okwe mu shikula divadiva ngaashi ongobe tai twalwa kokatomeno, ngaashi elai tali twalwa la mangwa li handukilwe, 23 fiyo oshikuti tashi tyuula exuli laye, ngaashi odila tai tuka keendjadja dokukwata, ye keshi shii kutya ta shingifa omwenyo waye.
24 Hano paife nye ovamwange, udeni nge ndele pwilikineni eendjovo dokanya kange. 25 Omutima woye ino u ameka keendjila domukainhu ou, ino ka pukila momalila aye. 26 Osheshi ovadipawa vahapu ye e va denga poshi, novahapu aveshe ovo e va dipaa. 27 Meumbo laye tamu di eendjila domoshovafi, odo tadi kulukile meenhele defyo.
