Proverbs 30

¹ The words of Agur son of Jakeh, the oracle.
The man declares to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal:

² Surely I am too stupid to be a man;
I have not the understanding of a man.

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

⁴ Who has ascended to heaven and come down?
Who has gathered the wind in his fists?
Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment?
Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is his name, and what is his son's name?
Surely you know!

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

⁶ Add nothing to his words,
lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.

⁷ Two things I ask of you;
deny them not to me before I die:

⁸ Remove falsehood and lying far from me;
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with the food I need,

⁹ lest I be full and deny you and say, 'Who is the LORD?'
or lest I be poor and steal
and profane the name of my God.

¹⁰ Do not slander a servant to his master,
lest he curse you, and you be held guilty.

¹¹ There is a generation that curses its father
and does not bless its mother.

¹² There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes
and yet is not washed of its filth.

¹³ There is a generation — how lofty are their eyes!
How their eyelids are raised!

¹⁴ There is a generation whose teeth are swords
and whose fangs are knives,
to devour the poor from off the earth
and the needy from among men.

¹⁵ The leech has two daughters: 'Give' and 'Give.'
Three things are never satisfied;
four never say 'Enough':

¹⁶ Sheol, the barren womb,
the earth ever thirsty for water,
and the fire that never says 'Enough.'

¹⁷ The eye that mocks a father
and scorns to obey a mother
will be picked out by the ravens of the valley
and eaten by the eagles.

¹⁸ Three things are too wonderful for me;
four I do not understand:

¹⁹ the way of an eagle in the sky,
the way of a serpent on a rock,
the way of a ship in the midst of the sea,
and the way of a man with a maiden.

²⁰ This is the way of an adulteress:
she eats and wipes her mouth
and says, 'I have done no wrong.'

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

²² a servant when he becomes king,
and a fool when he is filled with food,

²³ an unloved woman when she is married,
and a maidservant when she displaces her mistress.

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

²⁵ the ants are a people not strong,
yet they provide their food in the summer;

²⁶ the rock badgers are a people not mighty,
yet they make their homes in the cliffs;

²⁷ the locusts have no king,
yet all of them march in rank;

²⁸ the lizard you can take in your hands,
yet it is in kings' palaces.

²⁹ Three things are stately in their stride;
four are stately in their walk:

³⁰ the lion, which is mightiest among beasts
and turns aside for nothing,

³¹ the strutting rooster, the he-goat,
and a king whose army is with him.

³² If you have been foolish, exalting yourself,
or if you have been devising evil, put your hand on your mouth.

³³ For pressing milk produces curds,
pressing the nose produces blood,
and pressing anger produces strife.