Proverbs 30

The Words of Agur

1 The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, the pronouncement.

The man declares to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal:

2 I am certainly more ^astupid than any man,
And I do not have the understanding of a man;
3 Nor have I learned wisdom,
Nor do I have the ^bknowledge of the Holy One.
4 Who has ^cascended into heaven and descended?
Who has gathered the ^dwind in His fists?
Who has ^ewrapped the waters in ▼

▼Lit the

His garment?
Who has ^gestablished all the ends of the earth?
What is His ^hname or His ▼

▼Or son’s

Son’s name?
Surely you know!

5 Every ^jword of God is ▼

▼Lit refined

pure;
He is a ^lshield to those who take refuge in Him.
6 ^mDo not add to His words
Or He will rebuke you, and you will be proved a liar.

7 Two things I have asked of You;
Do not refuse me before I die:
8 Keep deception and ▼

▼Lit words of falsehood

lies far from me,
Give me neither poverty nor riches;
Feed me with the ^ofood that is my portion,
9 So that I will not be ^pfull and deny ^qYou and say, “Who is the Lord?”
And that I will not become ^rimpoverished and steal,
And ^sprofane the name of my God.

10 Do not slander a slave to his master,
Or he will ^tcurse you and you will be found guilty.

11 There is a ▼

▼Or generation

kind of person who ^vcurses his father
And does not bless his mother.
12 There is a ▼

▼Or generation

kind who is ^xpure in his own eyes,
Yet is not washed from his filthiness.
13 There is a ▼

▼Or generation

kind--oh how ^zlofty are his eyes!
And his eyelids are raised in arrogance.
14 There is a ▼

▼Or generation

kind of person whose ^abteeth are like swords
And his ^acjaw teeth like knives,
To ^addevour the poor from the earth
And the needy from among mankind.

15 The leech has two daughters:
“Give” and “Give.”
There are three things that will not be satisfied,
Four that will not say, “Enough”:
16 ▼

▼I.e., The netherworld

, ^afSheol, the ^aginfertile womb,
Earth that is never satisfied with water,
And fire that never says, “Enough.”
17 The eye that ^ahmocks a father
And ▼

▼Lit despises to obey

, ^ajscorns a mother,
The ^akravens of the valley will pick it out,
And the young ^aleagles will eat it.

18 There are three things which are too wonderful for me,
Four which I do not understand:
19 The way of the ^ameagle in the sky,
The way of a snake on a rock,
The way of a ship in the middle of the sea,
And the way of a man with a ▼

▼Lit young unmarried woman

virgin.
20 This is the way of an ^aoadulterous woman:
She eats and wipes her mouth,
And says, “I have done no wrong.”

21 Under three things the earth quakes,
And under four, it cannot endure:
22 Under a ^apslave when he becomes king,
And a fool when he is satisfied with food,
23 Under an unloved woman when she gets a husband,
And a female servant when she dispossesses her mistress.

24 Four things are small on the earth,
But they are exceedingly wise:
25 The ^aqants are not a strong people,
But they prepare their food in the summer;
26 The ^arrock hyraxes are not a mighty people,
Yet they make their houses in the rocks;
27 The locusts have no king,
Yet all of them go out in ^asranks;
28 The lizard you may grasp with the hands,
Yet it is in kings’ palaces.

29 There are three things which are stately in their march,
Even four which are stately when they walk:
30 The lion, which is ^atmighty among animals
And does not ▼

▼Lit turn back

, ^avretreat from anything,
31 The ▼

▼Lit girt in the loins

strutting rooster or the male goat,
And a king when his army is with him.

32 If you have been foolish in exalting yourself,
Or if you have plotted evil, ^axput your hand on your mouth.
33 For the ▼

▼Lit pressing

churning of milk produces butter,
And pressing the nose produces blood;
So the ▼

▼Lit pressing

churning of ^baanger produces strife.