Home Master Index
←Prev   Proverbs 30 as rendered by/in  Next→ 


30:1  The words of Agur son of Jakeh— an oracle this man declared to Ithiel, to Ithiel and to Ucal:
30:2  “Surely I am more stupid than any man and do not have a man’s understanding.
30:3  I have not learned wisdom, nor have I knowledge of the Holy One.
30:4  Who has gone up into heaven, and come down? Who has gathered the wind in the palm of His hand? Who has wrapped the waters in a cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name and what is the name of His son—if you know?”
30:5  Every word of God is purified. He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.
30:6  Do not add to His words, or else He will rebuke You and prove you a liar.
30:7  Two things I ask of You— do not refuse me before I die:
30:8  Keep falsehood and lies far from me. Give me neither poverty nor riches, but feed me with my allotted bread,
30:9  lest I become satisfied and deny You and say, “Who is Adonai?” Or lest I become poor, and steal and profane the Name of my God.
30:10  Do not slander a servant to his master, or he will curse you, and you pay for it.
30:11  There is a generation that curses its father and does not bless its mother.
30:12  There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes, and yet is not cleansed from its filth.
30:13  There is a generation whose eyes are so haughty, whose eyelids are lifted up disdainfully.
30:14  There is a generation whose teeth are swords and whose molars are knives, to devour the poor from the earth and the needy from among humanity.
30:15  The leech has two daughters: “Give! Give!” Three things are never satisfied, four never say, “Enough!”—
30:16  Sheol, a barren womb, land that is not satisfied with water, and fire that never says, “Enough!”
30:17  The eye that mocks a father and scorns obeying a mother— will be pecked out by ravens of the valley and eaten by young vultures!
30:18  Three things are too amazing for me, four I do not understand:
30:19  the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a serpent upon a rock, the way of a ship in the heart of the sea, and the way of a man with a maiden.
30:20  Such is the way of an adulteress: she eats, wipes her mouth and says, “I have done nothing wrong.”
30:21  Under three things the earth trembles, and under four it cannot bear up:
30:22  under a slave when he becomes a king, a fool when he is stuffed with food,
30:23  an unloved woman when she is married, and a handmaid when she displaces her mistress.
30:24  Four things on earth are small, yet they are exceedingly wise:
30:25  ants are creatures with little strength, yet they store up their food in summer;
30:26  coneys are creatures with little power, yet they make their homes in the cliffs;
30:27  locusts have no king, yet they advance together in ranks;
30:28  a lizard you can catch with the hand, yet it is found in kings’ palaces.
30:29  Three things are stately in their stride, four that move with stately bearing:
30:30  a lion, mighty among beasts, who never backs down from anything;
30:31  a strutting rooster, a male-goat, and a king with his army around him.
30:32  If you have acted foolishly, exalting yourself, or if you have planned evil, put your hand over your mouth.
30:33  For as churning milk produces butter, and twisting the nose produces blood, so stirring up anger produces strife.