Ko te wehi ki te Atua
Te tīmataka o te Kupu.
Whakamaua te Rokopai
Kia ū ki te whenua
Aroha nui ki te tākata.

E noho ana au
ki te roro o tōku whare
O Te Āwhitu i Taumutu.
Ka titiro atu ahau ki te Kahu Tai pōuri
O Waihora moana:
Whakakōhaka o te tuna heke,
Whāriki o te pīhara,
Ripohaka o te īnaka,
Papamoeka o te mohau,
Te orakao ōku tūpuna.

E mākirihia nei he tauiwi kūare
Kore tikaka.

Ka whakaroha atu ki tua o te ākau,
Ki te takiharuru o Takaroa
E miti mai rā i te pīkao,
ki ōna roimata rehutai
O tōku Tai moana,

Anō he tai matapopore.

Kia huri ōku kanohi ki te pari
o te kūmore o Taiaroa ki Ōtepoti.
Hai keko atu ki taku toroa tīoriori.

Kia kawea atu taku taki !

Tihe i Mauri ora !
Ki te whai Ao, ki te Ao mārama !

E kā waka, e kā mana, e kā reo

E kā huihui tākata
Ko Aoraki te mauka,
Ko Te Wai Pounamu te whenua,
Ko Kā wai rere huka te moana,
Ko Tahupōtiki te takata.

Ko Kāi Tahu te iwi e mihi atu nei
Tēnā koutou, Tēnā koutou,
Tēnā koutou katoa

Fear God,
The beginning of the Word.
Put on the Gospel,
That it may be fixed to the land.
Love humankind with all your strength.

I am sitting on the porch of my house,
Te Āwhitu, at Taumutu.
I gaze out to the dark sea surface
Of Lake Waihora:
Birthplace of the migrating eels,
Floor mat of Lamprey,
Eddying pool of whitebait,
Sleeping ground of the black flounder,
The sustenance of my ancestors.

We are mocked as worthless strangers, without rights.

I send my love beyond the shore,
To the surrounding cry of Takaroa
Lapping at the pingao,
To his sea mist tears on my sea coast,
Like a prized adornment.

Hold to the treasures of the ancestors!

Let my eyes turn to the cliff
On Taiaroa’s headland at Ōtepoti,
To glance at my chiefly albatross.

Let my song be carried forth!

Tihe i Mauri ora!
To the clear day, to the world of light!

O Canoes ! O Powers ! O Voices !

O Gatherings of people!
Aoraki is the mountain,
Te Wai Pounamu the land,
The snow-flowing rivers to the sea,
Tahpōtiki is the man!

Kāi Tahu are the people who greet you,
Greetings, greetings,
Greetings to you all!