Proverbs 30

The Words of Agur

1The words of Agur son of Jakeh. An oracle. The declaration of the man to Ithiel—to Ithiel and Ucal:* 2I am more brutish than any man, and I do not have a human being’s understanding. 3I have not learned wisdom, and I have no knowledge of the Holy One. 4Who has gone up to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has wrapped the waters in a cloak? Who has set up all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son’s name—if you know? 5Every word of God is refined; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. 6Do not add to his words, or he will reprove you and you will be found a liar. 7Two things I ask of you; do not withhold them from me before I die: 8keep emptiness and lying words far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches—feed me the bread that is my portion, 9so that I may not be full and deny you and say, “Who is Yahweh?” and may not be poor and steal and lay hold of the name of my God. 10Do not slander a servant to his master, or he will curse you and you will bear the guilt.

Four Generations

11There is a generation that curses its father and does not bless its mother; 12a generation pure in its own eyes and not washed of its filth; 13a generation whose eyes are lofty, whose eyelids are lifted high; 14a generation whose teeth are swords and whose jaws are knives, to devour the poor from off the earth and the needy from among mankind. 15The leech has two daughters: “Give! Give!” Three things are never satisfied, four never say, “Enough”: 16Sheol, the barren womb, land never satisfied with water, and fire that never says, “Enough.” 17The eye that mocks a father and scorns to obey a mother—the ravens of the valley will peck it out, and the young eagles will eat it. 18Three things are too wonderful for me, four I do not understand: 19the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship in the heart of the sea, and the way of a man with a young woman. 20This is the way of an adulterous woman: she eats, wipes her mouth and says, “I have done nothing wrong.”

Three Things, and Four

21Under three things the earth shakes, under four it cannot bear up: 22a servant when he becomes king, and a godless fool when he is filled with bread; 23an unloved woman when she is married, and a maidservant when she supplants her mistress. 24Four things on earth are small, and they are wiser than the wise: 25the ants are a people with no strength, yet they store their food in summer; 26the rock badgers are a people with no power, yet they make their homes in the crags; 27the locusts have no king, yet they all march out in ranks; 28the lizard can be caught in your hands, yet it is in the palaces of kings. 29Three things are stately in their stride, four are stately as they go: 30the lion, mightiest among beasts, which turns back before nothing; 31the strutting cock, the he-goat, and a king whom no one dares to face. 32If you have played the fool by exalting yourself, or if you have schemed—hand over your mouth! 33For pressing milk brings out curds, and pressing the nose brings out blood, and pressing anger brings out a quarrel.