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30:1  The sayings of Agur son of Jakeh – an inspired utterance. This man’s utterance to Ithiel: ‘I am weary, God, but I can prevail.
30:2  Surely I am only a brute, not a man; I do not have human understanding.
30:3  I have not learned wisdom, nor have I attained to the knowledge of the Holy One.
30:4  Who has gone up to heaven and come down? Whose hands have gathered up the wind? Who has wrapped up 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? Surely you know!
30:5  ‘Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
30:6  Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.
30:7  ‘Two things I ask of you, Lord; do not refuse me before I die:
30:8  keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.
30:9  Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, “Who is the Lord?” Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonour the name of my God.
30:10  ‘Do not slander a servant to their master, or they will curse you, and you will pay for it.
30:11  ‘There are those who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers;
30:12  those who are pure in their own eyes and yet are not cleansed of their filth;
30:13  those whose eyes are ever so haughty, whose glances are so disdainful;
30:14  those whose teeth are swords and whose jaws are set with knives to devour the poor from the earth and the needy from among the human race.
30:15  ‘The leech has two daughters. “Give! Give!” they cry. ‘There are three things that are never satisfied, four that never say, “Enough!”:
30:16  the grave, the barren womb, land, which is never satisfied with water, and fire, which never says, “Enough!”
30:17  ‘The eye that mocks a father, that scorns an aged mother, will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley, will be eaten by the vultures.
30:18  ‘There are three things that are too amazing for me, four that I do not understand:
30:19  the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a young woman.
30:20  ‘This is the way of an adulterous woman: she eats and wipes her mouth and says, “I’ve done nothing wrong.”
30:21  ‘Under three things the earth trembles, under four it cannot bear up:
30:22  a servant who becomes king, a godless fool who gets plenty to eat,
30:23  a contemptible woman who gets married, and a servant who displaces her mistress.
30:24  ‘Four things on earth are small, yet they are extremely wise:
30:25  ants are creatures of little strength, yet they store up their food in the summer;
30:26  hyraxes are creatures of little power, yet they make their home in the crags;
30:27  locusts have no king, yet they advance together in ranks;
30:28  a lizard can be caught with the hand, yet it is found in kings’ palaces.
30:29  ‘There are three things that are stately in their stride, four that move with stately bearing:
30:30  a lion, mighty among beasts, who retreats before nothing;
30:31  a strutting cock, a he-goat, and a king secure against revolt.
30:32  ‘If you play the fool and exalt yourself, or if you plan evil, clap your hand over your mouth!
30:33  For as churning cream produces butter, and as twisting the nose produces blood, so stirring up anger produces strife.’