< Proverbs 30 >
1 The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, the oracle. The man says to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal:
2 Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man,
3 and I have not learned wisdom, nor have I the knowledge of the Holy.
4 Who has ascended up into heaven, and descended? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has bound the waters in his garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou know?
5 Every word of God is tried. He is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
6 Add thou not to his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.
7 Two things I have asked of thee, deny me not before I die:
8 Remove far from me falsehood and lies. Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me,
9 lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is Jehovah? or lest I be poor, and steal, and use the name of my God profanely.
10 Slander not a servant to his master, lest he curse thee, and thou be held guilty.
11 There is a generation who curses their father, and does not bless their mother.
12 There is a generation who are pure in their own eyes, and yet are not washed from their filthiness.
13 There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes, and their eyelids are lifted up.
14 There is a generation whose teeth are swords, and their jaw teeth, knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men.
15 The leach has two daughters, crying, Give, give. There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four that do not say, Enough:
16 Sheol, and the barren womb, the earth that is not satisfied with water, and the fire that does not say, Enough. (Sheol )
17 The eye that mocks at his father, and despises to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it.
18 There are three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not:
19 The way of an eagle in the air, the way of a serpent upon a rock, the way of a ship in the midst of the sea, and the way of a man with a maiden.
20 So is the way of an adulterous woman: She eats, and wipes her mouth, and says, I have done no iniquity.
21 For three things the earth trembles, and for four, which it cannot bear:
22 For a servant when he is king, and a fool when he is filled with food,
23 for a hateful woman when she is married, and a handmaid that is heir to her mistress.
24 There are four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceedingly wise:
25 The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their food in the summer,
26 the conies are but a feeble folk, yet they make their houses in the rocks,
27 the locusts have no king, yet they go forth all of them by bands,
28 the lizard takes hold with her hands, yet she is in kings' palaces.
29 There are three things which are stately in their march, yea, four which are stately in going:
30 The lion, which is mightiest among beasts, and turns not away from any,
31 the greyhound, also the he-goat, and the king against whom there is no rising up.
32 If thou have done foolishly in lifting up thyself, or if thou have thought evil, lay thy hand upon thy mouth.
33 For the churning of milk brings forth butter, and the wringing of the nose brings forth blood, so the forcing of wrath brings forth strife.
