Proverbs 30

 

Proverbs 30

1 The sayings of Agur son of Jakeh—an inspired utterance. This man’s utterance to Ithiel: “I am weary, God, but I can prevail.

² Surely I am only a brute, not a man; I do not have human understanding.

³ I have not learned wisdom, nor have I attained to the knowledge of the Holy One.

⁴ Who has gone up to heaven and come down? Whose hands have gathered up the wind? Who has wrapped up the waters in a cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is the name of his son? Surely you know!

⁵ “Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

⁶ Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.

⁷ “Two things I ask of you, Lord; do not refuse me before I die:

⁸ Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.

⁹ Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.

¹⁰ “Do not slander a servant to their master, or they will curse you, and you will pay for it.

¹¹ “There are those who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers;

¹² those who are pure in their own eyes and yet are not cleansed of their filth;

¹³ those whose eyes are ever so haughty, whose glances are so disdainful;

¹⁴ those whose teeth are swords and whose jaws are set with knives to devour the poor from the earth and the needy from among mankind.

¹⁵ “The leech has two daughters. ‘Give! Give!’ they cry. “There are three things that are never satisfied,
four that never say, ‘Enough!’:

¹⁶ the grave, the barren womb, land, which is never satisfied with water, and fire, which never says, ‘Enough!’

¹⁷ “The eye that mocks a father, that scorns an aged mother, will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley,
will be eaten by the vultures.

¹⁸ “There are three things that are too amazing for me,
four that I do not understand:

¹⁹ the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a young woman.

²⁰ “This is the way of an adulterous woman: She eats and wipes her mouth and says, ‘I’ve done nothing wrong.’

²¹ “Under three things the earth trembles, under four it cannot bear up:

²² a servant who becomes king, a godless fool who gets plenty to eat,

²³ a contemptible woman who gets married, and a servant who displaces her mistress.

²⁴ “Four things on earth are small, yet they are extremely wise:

²⁵ Ants are creatures of little strength, yet they store up their food in the summer;

²⁶ hyraxes are creatures of little power, yet they make their home in the crags;

²⁷ locusts have no king, yet they advance together in ranks;

²⁸ a lizard can be caught with the hand, yet it is found in kings’ palaces.

²⁹ “There are three things that are stately in their stride,
four that move with stately bearing:

³⁰ a lion, mighty among beasts, who retreats before nothing;

³¹ a strutting rooster, a he-goat, and a king secure against revolt.

³² “If you play the fool and exalt yourself, or if you plan evil, clap your hand over your mouth!

³³ For as churning cream produces butter, and as twisting the nose produces blood, so stirring up anger produces strife.”