Proverbs 30

CHAPTER 30

God Teaches Wisdom

1Thus speaks the man to the ones trusting in God. And now  I will cease. 2[⁴most foolish ¹For ²I am ³all together] of men, and the intelligence of man is not in me. 3  God has taught me wisdom, and [²the knowledge ³of the holies ¹I know]. 4Who ascended into the heaven, and came down? Who brought together the winds in his bosom? Who bundled up waters in his cloak? Who holds all the extremities of the earth? What name is given to him? or what name to  his children that you should know? 5For all the words of God are purified. [³shields ¹And ²he himself] the ones venerating him. 6You should not add to  his words, lest he reprove you, and [²a liar ¹you should become]. 7Two things  I ask from you; you should not remove [²from me ¹favor] before   my dying; 8[²the vain ⁵word ³and ⁴false ⁶far ⁷from me ¹appoint]; and riches and poverty you should not give to me; but order up for me the things  necessary and the things  to be self-sufficient; 9that [²not ⁵in being filled up ⁴false ¹I should ³become], and should say, Who sees me? Or to be in need that I shall steal, and I shall swear an oath by the name   of God. 10You should not deliver a bondservant into the hands of a master, lest at any time he should curse you, and you should be obliterated. 11[²progeny ¹A bad ⁴a father ³curses], [⁴the ¹and ⁵mother ²he does not ³bless]. 12[²progeny ¹A bad ⁵as just ⁴himself ³judges],   and [³his going out ²not ¹washes]. 13[²progeny ¹A bad ⁴lofty ⁵eyes ³has],   and with his eyelids he lifts himself up. 14[²progeny ¹A bad ⁴swords ⁵for teeth ³has], and the molars as pruning knives, so as to consume the weak from the earth, and the needy of them from among  men.

The Four Marvels

15[⁴to the ⁵leech ²three ³daughters ¹There were ⁷in affection ⁶being loved],   these three did not fulfill her, and to the fourth it was not sufficient to say, Enough -- 16Hades, and passion of a woman, and earth not filled with water; and water and fire in no way shall say, It sufficies. 17The eye ridiculing a father, and dishonoring the old age of a mother -- [⁵cut it out ¹let the crows ²from ³the ⁴ravines], and may [³devour ⁴it ¹the young ²of the eagles]. 18[³three things  ¹And ²there are] impossible for me to comprehend, and the fourth I do not know -- 19the traces [²eagle ¹of a flying], and the ways of a serpent upon a rock, and the paths of a ship passing through the sea, and the ways of a man in youth. 20Such is the way [²woman ¹of an adulterous],   whenever she should act in washing herself, [²not ¹she says] to have acted out of place. 21By three things  [³is shaken ¹the ²earth], and the fourth it is not able to bear -- 22if a domestic servant should reign, and a fool should be filled with food, 23and a female domestic servant, if she is cast out   by her own lady, and a hateful wife if she should attain [²man ¹a good]. 24[³four ¹And ²there are] lesser things  upon the earth, and these are wiser than the wise -- 25the ants in whom there is no strength, and they prepare [²in summer   ¹nourishment]. 26And the rabbits -- a nation not being strong, the ones making [³in ⁴the rocks   ¹their own ²houses]. 27[⁴independent ³is ¹The ²locust], but she marches [²from ³one ⁴word of command ¹orderly]. 28And the newt, with its hands sticking, and [²easily caught ¹being], it dwells in the fortresses of kings. 29[³three ¹And ²there are] which [²prosperously ¹go], and the fourth which [²well ¹passes over] -- 30[²cub ¹a lion] is stronger than the beasts, which does not turn away, nor is struck with awe of any beast, 31and a rooster walking about among females confidently, and a he-goat taking the lead of a flock of goats, and a king delivering a public address to a nation. 32If you should let go of yourself in gladness, and should stretch out   your hand for a fight you shall be dishonored. 33Extract milk, and there will be butter; but if you should pressure the nostrils there shall come forth blood; and if you should drag out words, there shall come forth litigations and fights.