Proverbs 30
1 These are sayings/messages that God gave to Agur, the son of Jakeh. [Agur wrote them] for Ithiel and Ucal.
These things says the man to them that trust in God; and I cease.
2 It seems that I am very stupid; I do not deserve to be considered to be a human; I do not have the good sense that humans should have.
For I am the most simple of all men, and there is not in me the wisdom of men.
3 I have not learned [how to become] wise and I do not know [much] about God.
God has taught me wisdom, and I know the knowledge of the holy.
4 [But let me say this]: No one [RHQ] has ascended to heaven [to find out what God is like] and returned [to tell us]. No one [RHQ] has gathered/held the wind in his hand. No one [RHQ] has wrapped the water [in the ocean] in [a piece of] cloth, and no one [RHQ] has established the boundaries of the earth. [If you know who has done those things, tell me] [RHQ] his name, and the names of his children [SAR]! [But you do not know who has done those things, so you cannot speak with authority about what God is like].
Who has gone up to heaven, and come down? who has gathered the winds in his bosom? who has wrapped up the waters in a garment? who has dominion of all the ends of the earth? what is his name? or what is the name of his children?
5 Everything that God has said is true; he is [like] a shield [MET] for all those who request him to protect them.
For all the words of God are tried in the fire, and he defends those that reverence him.
6 Do not add to (OR, change) what God has said; if you do that, he will rebuke you and show that you are lying.
Add not to his words, lest he reprove you, and you be made a liar.
7 [God], I ask you to do two things for me; [please] do them before I die:
Two things I ask of you; take not favor from me before I die.
8 Help me never to lie or deceive [people] and do not cause me to become poor or to become rich. [Just] give me the food that I need;
Remove far from me vanity and falsehood: and give me not wealth [or] poverty; but appoint me what is needful and sufficient:
9 because if I become rich, I might say that I do not [RHQ] know you and that I do not need you; and if I become poor, I might dishonor you by stealing things.
lest I be filled and become false, and say, Who sees me? or be poor and steal, and swear [vainly] by the name of God.
10 Do not (slander/say bad things about) a worker to his boss; if you do that, the worker will curse you, and cause you to have trouble.
Deliver not a servant into the hands of his master, lest he curse you, and you be utterly destroyed.
11 [I will list four kinds of evil things that people do]: Some people curse their fathers and do not [ask God to] bless their mothers.
A wicked generation curse their father, and do not bless their mother.
12 Some people think that they are perfect, but [really] they have never been cleansed from their guilt for committing disgusting sins.
A wicked generation judge themselves to be just, but do not cleanse their way.
13 Some people are very proud; they think that they are very good and they despise others.
A wicked generation have lofty eyes, and exalt themselves with their eyelids.
14 Some people [act very cruelly toward others]; [it is as though] [MET] they have teeth that are [like] sharp knives; they severely oppress poor [people] and try to cause them to disappear from the land.
A wicked generation have swords [for] teeth and jaw teeth [as] knives, so as to destroy and devour the lowly from the earth, and the poor of them from among men.
15 Leeches [are always wanting more blood to suck]; [similarly, greedy people are always] saying “Give [me some]!” or “Give [me more]!” [MET] There are four things that are never (satisfied/content with what they have); they always want more [LIT]:
The horse-leech had three dearly beloved daughters: and these three did not satisfy her; and the fourth was not contented so as to say, Enough.
16 The place where the dead people are; women who do not have any children; ground that needs water/rain; and a fire that always needs more wood. (Sheol h7585)
The grave, and the love of a woman, and the earth not filled with water; water also and fire will not say, It is enough. (Sheol h7585)
17 Those who [SYN] make fun of their fathers or refuse to obey their mothers (OR, despise their aged mothers) should [die and] have their eyes pecked out by crows, and the [rest of their corpses should be] fed to the vultures.
The eye that laughs to scorn a father, and dishonors the old age of a mother, let the ravens of the valleys pick it out, and let the young eagles devour it.
18 There are four things that are wonderful to me, [but] I do not understand any of them:
Moreover there are three things impossible for me to comprehend, and the fourth I know not:
19 How eagles fly in the sky, how snakes [are able to] move/crawl across a big rock, how ships sail on the seas, and how a man falls in love with a woman.
the track of a flying eagle; and the ways of a serpent on a rock; and the paths of a ship passing through the sea; and the ways of a man in youth.
20 This is what a woman who (is not faithful to/does not have sex only with) her husband does: She commits adultery [EUP], and [then] bathes and says, “I have not done anything that is wrong!”
Such is the way of an adulterous woman, who having washed herself from what she has done, says she has done nothing amiss.
21 There are four things that no [one in] the world can tolerate:
By three thing the earth is troubled, and the fourth it can’t bear:
22 [What] a slave [does who] becomes a king, a foolish person eating [too much] food,
if a servant reign; or a fool be filled with food;
23 [what] a woman who is hated [does when she] gets married, and [what] a female servant [does when she] becomes the boss instead of her mistress.
or if a maidservant should cast out her own mistress; and if a hateful woman should marry a good man.
24 [There are] four animals on the earth that are small, but they are very wise:
And [there are] four very little things upon the earth, but these are wiser than the wise:
25 Ants are not strong, but they store up food during the summer [in order to have it during the winter].
the ants which are weak, and [yet] prepare [their] food in summer;
26 Rock badgers [also] are not strong, but they make their homes among the rocks [where they will be safe].
the rabbits also [are] a feeble race, who make their houses in the rocks.
27 Locusts do not have a king, but they march like [the soldiers in] an army.
The locusts have no king, and [yet] march orderly at one command.
28 Lizards/Geckos [are very small and] you can hold them in your hand, but they are [cleverly able to get] inside kings’ palaces.
And the eft, which supports itself by [its] hands, and is easily taken, dwells in the fortresses of kings.
29 [There are] four animals that strut around and look very impressive while they walk [DOU]:
And there are three things which go well, and a fourth which passes along finely.
30 Lions, which are stronger than all other animals and are not afraid of any of them;
A lion's whelp, stronger than [all other] beasts, which turns not away, nor fears [any] beast;
31 male goats, strutting roosters, and kings who (parade/walk proudly back and forth) in front of the people whom they rule.
and a cock walking in boldly among the hens, and the goat leading the herd; and a king publicly speaking before a nation.
32 If you have acted foolishly, exalting yourself, or if you been planning [to do something] evil, stop it immediately [IDM]!
If you abandon yourself to mirth, and stretch forth your hand in a quarrel, you shall be disgraced.
33 If you churn milk, it produces butter/curds, and if you hit [someone hard on his] nose, [his nose] bleeds; similarly, if you do something to cause [people to become] angry, strife [usually] results.
Milk out milk, and there shall be butter, and if you wing [one's] nostrils there shall come out blood: so if you extort words, there will come forth quarrels and strifes.
