Proverbs 30:20–28

20 This is the way of an adulteress:

she eats and wipes her mouth

and says, “I have done no wrong.”

21 Under three things the earth trembles;

under four it cannot bear up:

22 a slave when he becomes king,

and a fool when he is filled with food;

23 an unloved woman when she gets a husband,

and a maidservant when she displaces her mistress.

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.

20 Such is the way of an adulterous woman;

She eateth, and wipeth her mouth,

And saith, I have done no wickedness.

21 For three things the earth is disquieted,

And for four which it cannot bear:

22 For a servant when he reigneth;

And a fool when he is filled with meat;

23 For an odious woman when she is married;

And an handmaid that is heir to her mistress.

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.

20 An adulterous woman consumes a man,

then wipes her mouth and says, “What’s wrong with that?”

21 There are three things that make the earth tremble—

no, four it cannot endure:

22 a slave who becomes a king,

an overbearing fool who prospers,

23 a bitter woman who finally gets a husband,

a servant girl who supplants her mistress.

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.

20 This is the way of an adulterous woman:

She eats and wipes her mouth,

And says, “I have done no wickedness.”

21 For three things the earth is perturbed,

Yes, for four it cannot bear up:

22 For a servant when he reigns,

A fool when he is filled with food,

23 A hateful woman when she is married,

And a maidservant who succeeds her mistress.

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.

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:

22 a servant who becomes a king,

a foolish person who has plenty to eat,

23 a 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:

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.

20 So is the way of an adulterous woman;

She eateth, and wipeth her mouth,

And saith, I have done no wickedness.

21 For three things the earth doth tremble,

And for four, which it cannot bear:

22 For a servant when he is king;

And a fool when he is filled with food;

23 For an odious woman when she is married;

And a handmaid that is heir to her mistress.

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.

20 Such is the way of an adulterous woman: she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness. 21 Under three things the earth is disquieted, and under four it cannot bear up: 22 Under a servant when he reigneth, and a churl when he is filled with meat; 23 under an odious woman when she is married, and a handmaid when she is heir to her mistress.

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.

20 This is the way of a woman who commits adultery: 

She eats, wipes her mouth, 

and says, “I haven’t done anything wrong!” 

21 Three things cause the earth to tremble, 

even four it cannot bear up under: 

22 a slave when he becomes king, 

a godless fool when he is filled with food, 

23 a woman who is unloved when she gets married, 

a maid when she replaces her mistress. 

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. 

20 This is the way of an adulteress:

she eats and wipes her mouth

and says, “I’ve done nothing wrong.”

21 The earth trembles under three things;

it cannot bear up under four:

22 a servant when he becomes king,

a fool when he is stuffed with food,

23 an unloved woman when she marries,

and a servant girl when she ousts her queen.

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.

20 This is the way of an adulteress:

she eats and wipes her mouth

and says, “I have done no wrong.”

21 Under three things the earth trembles;

under four it cannot bear up:

22 a slave when he becomes king

and a fool when glutted with food,

23 a contemptible woman when she gets a husband

and a maid when she supplants her mistress.

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.

20 This is the way of a woman committing adultery:

she eats and wipes her mouth,

and says “I have not done wrong.”

21 Under three things the earth trembles,

and under four, it is not able to bear up:

22 under a slave when he becomes king,

and a fool when he is satisfied with food;

23 under an unloved woman when she gets married,

and a maid when she succeeds her mistress.

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.

20 “This is the way of a woman who commits adultery.

She eats. She wipes her mouth.

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

21 “Under three things the earth shakes.

Under four things it can’t stand up.

22 The first is a servant who becomes a king.

The second is a foolish person who is full of food.

23 The third is a woman who is married but not loved by her husband.

And the fourth is a woman servant who takes the place of the woman she works for.

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.

20 This is the way of an adulterous woman:

She eats and wipes her mouth,

And says, “I have done no wrong.”

21 Under three things the earth quakes,

And under four, it cannot bear up:

22 Under a slave when he becomes king,

And a fool when he is satisfied with food,

23 Under an unloved woman when she gets a husband,

And a maidservant when she supplants her mistress.

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.