Pro 30 | ESV | STEP | The words of Agur son of Jakeh . The oracle. The man declares , I am weary, O God ; I am weary, O God , and worn out .

1 The words of Agur son of Jakeh. The oracle. ^{▼▼Or Jakeh, the man of Massa}

The man declares, I am weary, O God;
I am weary, O God, and worn out. ^{▼▼Revocalization; Hebrew The man declares to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal}
2 Surely I am too ^cstupid to be a man.
I have not the understanding of a man.
3 I have not learned wisdom,
nor have I knowledge of ^dthe Holy One.
4 Who has ^eascended to heaven and come down?
Who has ^fgathered the wind in his fists?
Who has ^gwrapped up the waters in a garment?
Who has established all ^hthe ends of the earth?
ⁱWhat is his name, and what is his son’s name?
Surely you know!
5 ^jEvery word of God proves true;
he is ^ka shield to those who take refuge in him.
6 ^lDo not add 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 ^mbefore I die:
8 Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with the food that is ⁿneedful for me,
9 lest I be ^ofull and ^pdeny you
and say, ^q“Who is the Lord?”
or lest I be poor and steal
^rand profane the name of my God.
10 ^sDo not slander a servant to his master,
^tlest he curse you, and you be held guilty.
11 There are those ^{▼▼Hebrew There is a generation; also verses 12, 13, 14} who ^vcurse their fathers
and do not bless their mothers.
12 There are those who are ^wclean in their own eyes
but are not washed of their filth.
13 There are those—how ^xlofty are their eyes,
how high their eyelids lift!
14 There are those whose teeth are ^yswords,
whose ^zfangs are knives,
to ^aadevour the poor from off the earth,
the needy from among mankind.
15 The leech has two daughters:
Give and Give. ^{▼▼Or “ Give, give,” they cry}
^acThree things are never satisfied;
^adfour never say, “Enough”:
16 ^aeSheol, ^afthe barren womb,
the land never satisfied with water,
and the fire that never says, “Enough.”
17 The eye that ^agmocks a father
and ^ahscorns to obey a mother
will ^aibe picked out by ^ajthe ravens of the valley
and eaten by the vultures.
18 ^akThree things are ^altoo wonderful for me;
^amfour 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 on the high seas,
and the way of a man with a virgin.
20 This is the way of an adulteress:
she eats and wipes her mouth
and says, “I have done no wrong.”
21 Under ^anthree things ^aothe earth trembles;
under ^apfour it cannot bear up:
22 ^aqa slave when he becomes king,
and a fool when he is ^arfilled with food;
23 ^asan unloved woman when she ^atgets a husband,
and a maidservant when she displaces her mistress.
24 ^auFour things on earth are small,
but they are exceedingly wise:
25 ^avthe ants are a people not strong,
yet they provide their food in the summer;
26 ^awthe rock badgers are a people not mighty,
yet they make their homes in the cliffs;
27 the locusts have no ^axking,
yet all of them march in ^ayrank;
28 the lizard you can take in your hands,
yet it is in kings’ palaces.
29 ^azThree things are stately in their tread;
^bafour are stately in their stride:
30 the lion, which is mightiest among beasts
and ^bbdoes not turn back before any;
31 the ^bcstrutting rooster, ^{▼▼Or the magpie, or the greyhound; Hebrew girt-of-loins} the he-goat,
and a king whose army is with him. ^{▼▼Or against whom there is no rising up}
32 If you have been foolish, exalting yourself,
or if you have been devising evil,
^bfput your hand on your mouth.
33 For pressing milk produces curds,
pressing the nose produces blood,
and pressing anger produces strife.