Proverbs 30:10–33

¹⁰Don’t blow the whistle on your fellow workers

behind their backs;

They’ll accuse you of being underhanded,

and then you’ll be the guilty one!

¹¹Don’t curse your father

or fail to bless your mother.

¹²Don’t imagine yourself to be quite presentable

when you haven’t had a bath in weeks.

¹³Don’t be stuck-up

and think you’re better than everyone else.

¹⁴Don’t be greedy,

merciless and cruel as wolves,

Tearing into the poor and feasting on them,

shredding the needy to pieces only to discard them.

^15–16A leech has twin daughters

named “Gimme” and “Gimme more.”

Four Insatiables

Three things are never satisfied,

no, there are four that never say, “That’s enough, thank you!”—

hell,

a barren womb,

a parched land,

a forest fire.

¹⁷An eye that disdains a father

and despises a mother—

that eye will be plucked out by wild vultures

and consumed by young eagles.

Four Mysteries

^18–19Three things amaze me,

no, four things I’ll never understand—

how an eagle flies so high in the sky,

how a snake glides over a rock,

how a ship navigates the ocean,

why adolescents act the way they do.

²⁰Here’s how a prostitute operates:

she has sex with her client,

Takes a bath,

then asks, “Who’s next?”

Four Intolerables

^21–23Three things are too much for even the earth to bear,

yes, four things shake its foundations—

when the janitor becomes the boss,

when a fool gets rich,

when a whore is voted “woman of the year,”

when a “girlfriend” replaces a faithful wife.

Four Small Wonders

^24–28There are four small creatures,

wisest of the wise they are—

ants—frail as they are,

get plenty of food in for the winter;

marmots—vulnerable as they are,

manage to arrange for rock-solid homes;

locusts—leaderless insects,

yet they strip the field like an army regiment;

lizards—easy enough to catch,

but they sneak past vigilant palace guards.

Four Dignitaries

^29–31There are three solemn dignitaries,

four that are impressive in their bearing—

a lion, king of the beasts, deferring to none;

a rooster, proud and strutting;

a billy goat;

a head of state in stately procession.

^32–33If you’re dumb enough to call attention to yourself

by offending people and making rude gestures,

Don’t be surprised if someone bloodies your nose.

Churned milk turns into butter;

riled emotions turn into fist fights.