< Proverbs 30 >
1 Words of Agur, son of Jakeh, the burden, a declaration of the man to Ithiel—to Ithiel and Ucal: I have wearied myself [for] God, I have wearied myself [for] God, and am consumed.
2 For I am more brutish than anyone, And do not have the understanding of a man.
3 Nor have I learned wisdom, Yet I know the knowledge of the Holy Ones.
4 Who went up to the heavens, and comes down? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has bound waters in a garment? Who established all ends of the earth? What [is] His Name? And what [is] His Son’s Name? Surely you know!
5 Every saying of God [is] tried, He [is] a shield to those trusting in Him.
6 Do not add to His words, lest He reason with you, And you have been found false.
7 Two things I have asked from You, Do not withhold from me before I die.
8 Put vanity and a lying word far from me, Do not give poverty or wealth to me, Cause me to eat the bread of my portion,
9 Lest I become satiated, and have denied, And have said, “Who [is] YHWH?” And lest I am poor, and have stolen, And have laid hold of the Name of my God.
10 Do not accuse a servant to his lord, Lest he disapprove of you, and you are found guilty.
11 A generation lightly esteems their father, And does not bless their mother.
12 A generation—pure in their own eyes, But not washed from their own filth.
13 A generation—how high are their eyes, Indeed, their eyelids are lifted up.
14 A generation—their teeth [are] swords, And their jaw-teeth [are] knives, To consume the poor from earth, And the needy from [among] men.
15 To the leech [are] two daughters—Give! Give! Behold, three things are not satisfied, Four have not said “Sufficiency”;
16 Sheol, and a restrained womb, Earth—it [is] not satisfied [with] water, And fire—it has not said, “Sufficiency,” (Sheol )
17 An eye that mocks at a father, And despises to obey a mother, Ravens of the valley dig it out, And young eagles eat it.
18 Three things have been too wonderful for me, Indeed, four that I have not known:
19 The way of the eagle in the heavens, The way of a serpent on a rock, The way of a ship in the heart of the sea, And the way of a man in youth.
20 So—the way of an adulterous woman, She has eaten and has wiped her mouth, And has said, “I have not done iniquity.”
21 For three things has earth been troubled, And for four—it is not able to bear:
22 For a servant when he reigns, And a fool when he is satisfied with bread,
23 For a hated one when she rules, And a maidservant when she succeeds her mistress.
24 Four [are] little ones of earth, And they are made wiser than the wise:
25 The ants [are] a people not strong, And they prepare their food in summer,
26 hyraxes [are] a people not strong, And they place their house in a rock,
27 There is no king to the locust, And it goes out—each one shouting,
28 A spider with two hands takes hold, And is in the palaces of a king.
29 There are three going well, Indeed, four are good in going:
30 An old lion—mighty among beasts, That does not turn back from the face of any,
31 A girt one of the loins, Also a male goat, And a king—troops with him.
32 If you have been foolish in lifting yourself up, And if you have devised evil—hand to mouth!
33 For the churning of milk brings out butter, And the wringing of the nose brings out blood, And the forcing of anger brings out strife!
