Proverbs 30:24–31
24 “Four things on earth are small,
yet they are extremely wise:
25 Ants are creatures of little strength,
yet they store up their food in the summer;o
26 hyraxesp are creatures of little power,
yet they make their home in the crags;
27 locustsq have no king,
yet they advance together in ranks;
28 a lizard can be caught with the hand,
yet it is found in kings’ palaces.
29 “There are three things that are stately in their stride,
four that move with stately bearing:
30 a lion, mighty among beasts,
who retreats before nothing;
31 a strutting rooster, a he-goat,
and a king secure against revolt.b
Proverbs 30:24–31 — English Standard Version (ESV)
24 Four things on earth are small,
but they are exceedingly wise:
25 the ants are a people not strong,
yet they provide their food in the summer;
26 the rock badgers are a people not mighty,
yet they make their homes in the cliffs;
27 the locusts have no king,
yet all of them march in rank;
28 the lizard you can take in your hands,
yet it is in kings’ palaces.
29 Three things are stately in their tread;
four are stately in their stride:
30 the lion, which is mightiest among beasts
and does not turn back before any;
31 the strutting rooster, the he-goat,
and a king whose army is with him.
Proverbs 30:24–31 — King James Version (KJV 1900)
24 There be four things which are little upon the earth,
But they are exceeding wise:
25 The ants are a people not strong,
Yet they prepare their meat in the summer;
26 The conies are but a feeble folk,
Yet make they their houses in the rocks;
27 The locusts have no king,
Yet go they forth all of them by bands;
28 The spider taketh hold with her hands,
And is in kings’ palaces.
29 There be three things which go well,
Yea, four are comely in going:
30 A lion which is strongest among beasts,
And turneth not away for any;
31 A greyhound; an he goat also;
And a king, against whom there is no rising up.
Proverbs 30:24–31 — New Living Translation (NLT)
24 There are four things on earth that are small but unusually wise:
25 Ants—they aren’t strong,
but they store up food all summer.
26 Hyraxes—they aren’t powerful,
but they make their homes among the rocks.
27 Locusts—they have no king,
but they march in formation.
28 Lizards—they are easy to catch,
but they are found even in kings’ palaces.
29 There are three things that walk with stately stride—
no, four that strut about:
30 the lion, king of animals, who won’t turn aside for anything,
31 the strutting rooster,
the male goat,
a king as he leads his army.
Proverbs 30:24–31 — The New King James Version (NKJV)
24 There are four things which are little on the earth,
But they are exceedingly wise:
25 The ants are a people not strong,
Yet they prepare their food in the summer;
26 The rock badgers are a feeble folk,
Yet they make their homes in the crags;
27 The locusts have no king,
Yet they all advance in ranks;
28 The spider skillfully grasps with its hands,
And it is in kings’ palaces.
29 There are three things which are majestic in pace,
Yes, four which are stately in walk:
30 A lion, which is mighty among beasts
And does not turn away from any;
31 A greyhound,
A male goat also,
And a king whose troops are with him.
Proverbs 30:24–31 — New Century Version (NCV)
24 “There are four things on earth that are small,
but they are very wise:
25 Ants are not very strong,
but they store up food in the summer.
26 Rock badgers are not very powerful,
but they can live among the rocks.
27 Locusts have no king,
but they all go forward in formation.
28 Lizards 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:
30 a lion, the proudest animal,
which is strong and runs from nothing,
31 a rooster, a male goat,
and a king when his army is around him.
Proverbs 30:24–31 — American Standard Version (ASV)
24 There are four things which are little upon the earth,
But they are exceeding wise:
25 The ants are a people not strong,
Yet they provide their food in the summer;
26 The conies are but a feeble folk,
Yet make they their houses in the rocks;
27 The locusts have no king,
Yet go they forth all of them by bands;
28 The lizard taketh hold with her hands,
Yet is she in kings’ palaces.
29 There are three things which are stately in their march,
Yea, four which are stately in going:
30 The lion, which is mightiest among beasts,
And turneth not away for any;
31 The greyhound; the he-goat also;
And the king against whom there is no rising up.
Proverbs 30:24–31 — 1890 Darby Bible (DARBY)
24 There are four things little upon the earth, and they are exceeding wise: 25 The ants, a people not strong, yet they provide their food in the summer; 26 the rock-badgers are but a feeble folk, yet they make their house in the cliff; 27 the locusts have no king, yet they go forth all of them by bands; 28 thou takest hold of the lizard with the hands, yet is she in kings’ palaces.
29 There are three things which have a stately step, and four are comely in going: 30 The lion, mighty among beasts, which turneth not away for any; 31 a horse girt in the loins; or the he-goat; and a king, against whom none can rise up.
Proverbs 30:24–31 — GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)
24 Four things on earth are small,
yet they are very wise:
25 Ants are not a strong species,
yet they store their food in summer.
26 Rock badgers are not a mighty species,
yet they make their home in the rocks.
27 Locusts have no king,
yet all of them divide into swarms by instinct.
28 A lizard you can hold in your hands,
yet it can even be found in royal palaces.
29 There are three things that walk with dignity,
even four that march with dignity:
30 a lion, mightiest among animals, which turns away from nothing,
31 a strutting rooster,
a male goat,
a king at the head of his army.
Proverbs 30:24–31 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
24 Four things on earth are small,
yet they are extremely wise:
25 the ants are not a strong people,
yet they store up their food in the summer;
26 hyraxes are not a mighty people,
yet they make their homes in the cliffs;
27 locusts have no king,
yet all of them march in ranks;
28 a lizard can be caught in your hands,
yet it lives in kings’ palaces.
29 Three things are stately in their stride,
even four are stately in their walk:
30 a lion, which is mightiest among beasts
and doesn’t retreat before anything,
31 a strutting rooster, a goat,
and a king at the head of his army.
Proverbs 30:24–31 — The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
24 Four things on earth are small,
yet they are exceedingly wise:
25 the ants are a people without strength,
yet they provide their food in the summer;
26 the badgers are a people without power,
yet they make their homes in the rocks;
27 the locusts have no king,
yet all of them march in rank;
28 the lizard can be grasped in the hand,
yet it is found in kings’ palaces.
29 Three things are stately in their stride;
four are stately in their gait:
30 the lion, which is mightiest among wild animals
and does not turn back before any;
31 the strutting rooster, the he-goat,
and a king striding before his people.
Proverbs 30:24–31 — The Lexham English Bible (LEB)
24 There are four small things on the earth,
and they are exceedingly wise:
25 The ants are a people who are not strong,
yet they prepare their food in the summer;
26 the badgers are a people who are not mighty,
yet they set their house on the rock;
27 there is no king for the locust,
yet it marches in rank;
28 a lizard you can seize with hands,
yet it is in palaces of kings.
29 There are three things that are magnificent of stride,
and four that are magnificent when moving:
30 a mighty lion among the beasts,
but he will not turn back from any face;
31 a strutting rooster or he-goat,
and a king whose army is with him.
Proverbs 30:24–31 — New International Reader’s Version (1998) (NIrV)
24 “Four things on earth are small.
But they are very wise.
25 The first are ants. They aren’t very strong.
But they store up their food in the summer.
26 The second are rock badgers. They aren’t very powerful.
But they make their home among the rocks.
27 The third are locusts. They don’t have a king.
But they all march forward in ranks.
28 And the fourth are lizards. Your hand can catch them.
But you will find them in kings’ palaces.
29 “Three things walk as if they were kings.
Four things move as kings do.
30 The first is a lion. It is mighty among the animals.
It doesn’t back away from anything.
31 The second is a rooster that walks proudly.
The third is a billy goat.
And the fourth is a king who has his army around him.
Proverbs 30:24–31 — New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (NASB95)
24 Four things are small on the earth,
But they are exceedingly wise:
25 The ants are not a strong people,
But they prepare their food in the summer;
26 The shephanim are not mighty people,
Yet they make their houses in the rocks;
27 The locusts have no king,
Yet all of them go out in ranks;
28 The lizard you may grasp with the hands,
Yet it is in kings’ palaces.
29 There are three things which are stately in their march,
Even four which are stately when they walk:
30 The lion which is mighty among beasts
And does not retreat before any,
31 The strutting rooster, the male goat also,
And a king when his army is with him.