Proverbs 30–31

Wise Words from Agur

30These are the words of Agur son of Jakeh.

This is his message to Ithiel and Ucal:

²“I am the most stupid person there is,

and I have no understanding.

³I have not learned to be wise,

and I don’t know much about God, the Holy One.

⁴Who has gone up to heaven and come back down?

Who can hold the wind in his hand?

Who can gather up the waters in his coat?

Who has set in place the ends of the earth?

What is his name or his son’s name?

Tell me, if you know!

⁵“Every word of God is true.

He guards those who come to him for safety.

⁶Do not add to his words,

or he will correct you and prove you are a liar.

⁷“I ask two things from you, Lord.

Don’t refuse me before I die.

⁸Keep me from lying and being dishonest.

And don’t make me either rich or poor;

just give me enough food for each day.

⁹If I have too much, I might reject you

and say, ‘I don’t know the Lord.’

If I am poor, I might steal

and disgrace the name of my God.

¹⁰“Do not say bad things about servants to their masters,

or they will curse you, and you will suffer for it.

¹¹“Some people curse their fathers

and do not bless their mothers.

¹²Some people think they are pure,

but they are not really free from evil.

¹³Some people have such a proud look!

They look down on others.

¹⁴Some people have teeth like swords;

their jaws seem full of knives.

They want to remove the poor from the earth

and the needy from the land.

¹⁵“Greed has two daughters

named ‘Give’ and ‘Give.’

There are three things that are never satisfied,

really four that never say, ‘I’ve had enough!’:

¹⁶the cemetery, the childless mother,

the land that never gets enough rain,

and fire that never says, ‘I’ve had enough!’

¹⁷“If you make fun of your father

and refuse to obey your mother,

the birds of the valley will peck out your eyes,

and the vultures will eat them.

¹⁸“There are three things that are too hard for me,

really four I don’t understand:

¹⁹the way an eagle flies in the sky,

the way a snake slides over a rock,

the way a ship sails on the sea,

and the way a man and a woman fall in love.

²⁰“This is the way of a woman who takes part in adultery:

She acts as if she had eaten and washed her face;

she says, ‘I haven’t done anything wrong.’

²¹“There are three things that make the earth tremble,

really four it cannot stand:

²²a servant who becomes a king,

a foolish person who has plenty to eat,

²³a hated woman who gets married,

and a maid who replaces her mistress.

²⁴“There are four things on earth that are small,

but they are very wise:

²⁵Ants are not very strong,

but they store up food in the summer.

²⁶Rock badgers are not very powerful,

but they can live among the rocks.

²⁷Locusts have no king,

but they all go forward in formation.

²⁸Lizards can be caught in the hand,

but they are found even in kings’ palaces.

²⁹“There are three things that strut proudly,

really four that walk as if they were important:

³⁰a lion, the proudest animal,

which is strong and runs from nothing,

³¹a rooster, a male goat,

and a king when his army is around him.

³²“If you have been foolish and proud,

or if you have planned evil, shut your mouth.

³³Just as stirring milk makes butter,

and twisting noses makes them bleed,

so stirring up anger causes trouble.”

Wise Words of King Lemuel

31These are the words of King Lemuel, the message his mother taught him:

²“My son, I gave birth to you.

You are the son I prayed for.

³Don’t waste your strength on women

or your time on those who ruin kings.

⁴“Kings should not drink wine, Lemuel,

and rulers should not desire beer.

⁵If they drink, they might forget the law

and keep the needy from getting their rights.

⁶Give beer to people who are dying

and wine to those who are sad.

⁷Let them drink and forget their need

and remember their misery no more.

⁸“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves;

defend the rights of all those who have nothing.

⁹Speak up and judge fairly,

and defend the rights of the poor and needy.”

The Good Wife

¹⁰It is hard to find a good wife,

because she is worth more than rubies.

¹¹Her husband trusts her completely.

With her, he has everything he needs.

¹²She does him good and not harm

for as long as she lives.

¹³She looks for wool and flax

and likes to work with her hands.

¹⁴She is like a trader’s ship,

bringing food from far away.

¹⁵She gets up while it is still dark

and prepares food for her family

and feeds her servant girls.

¹⁶She inspects a field and buys it.

With money she earned, she plants a vineyard.

¹⁷She does her work with energy,

and her arms are strong.

¹⁸She knows that what she makes is good.

Her lamp burns late into the night.

¹⁹She makes thread with her hands

and weaves her own cloth.

²⁰She welcomes the poor

and helps the needy.

²¹She does not worry about her family when it snows,

because they all have fine clothes to keep them warm.

²²She makes coverings for herself;

her clothes are made of linen and other expensive material.

²³Her husband is known at the city meetings,

where he makes decisions as one of the leaders of the land.

²⁴She makes linen clothes and sells them

and provides belts to the merchants.

²⁵She is strong and is respected by the people.

She looks forward to the future with joy.

²⁶She speaks wise words

and teaches others to be kind.

²⁷She watches over her family

and never wastes her time.

²⁸Her children speak well of her.

Her husband also praises her,

²⁹saying, “There are many fine women,

but you are better than all of them.”

³⁰Charm can fool you, and beauty can trick you,

but a woman who respects the Lord should be praised.

³¹Give her the reward she has earned;

she should be praised in public for what she has done.