Proverbs 30:1–31:9

Sayings of Agur

³⁰The words of Agur son of Jakeh. An oracle.

Thus says the man: I am weary, O God;

I am weary, O God, and am wasting away.^v*

²Surely I am too stupid to be human;

I do not have human understanding.^*

³I have not learned wisdom,

nor have I knowledge of the holy ones.^w*

⁴Who has ascended to heaven and come down?

Who has gathered the wind in the hollow of the hand?

Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment?

Who has established all the ends of the earth?

What is the person’s name?

And what is the name of the person’s child?

Surely you know!^*

⁵Every word of God proves true;

he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.^*

⁶Do not add to his words,

lest he rebuke you, and you be found a liar.^*

⁷Two things I ask of you;

do not deny them to me before I die:

⁸Remove far from me falsehood and lying;

give me neither poverty nor riches;

feed me with the food that I need,^*

⁹lest I be full and deny you

and say, “Who is the Lord?”

or I be poor and steal

and profane the name of my God.^*

¹⁰Do not slander a servant to a master,

lest the servant curse you, and you be held guilty.^*

¹¹There are those who curse their fathers

and do not bless their mothers.^*

¹²There are those who are pure in their own eyes,

yet are not cleansed of their filthiness.^*

¹³There are those—how lofty are their eyes,

how high their eyelids lift!—^*

¹⁴there are those whose teeth are swords,

whose teeth are knives

to devour the poor from off the earth,

the needy from among mortals.^*

¹⁵The leech has two daughters;

“Give, give,” they cry.

Three things are never satisfied;

four never say, “Enough”:

¹⁶Sheol, the barren womb,

the earth ever-thirsty for water,

and the fire that never says, “Enough.”^*

¹⁷The eye that mocks a father

and scorns to obey a mother

will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley

and eaten by the vultures.^*

¹⁸Three things are too wonderful for me;

four I do not understand:

¹⁹the 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 woman.

²⁰This is the way of an adulteress:

she eats and wipes her mouth

and says, “I have done no wrong.”^*

²¹Under three things the earth trembles;

under four it cannot bear up:

²²a slave when he becomes king

and a fool when glutted with food,^*

²³a contemptible woman when she gets a husband

and a maid when she supplants her mistress.

²⁴Four things on earth are small,

yet they are exceedingly wise:

²⁵the ants are a people without strength,

yet they provide their food in the summer;^*

²⁶the badgers are a people without power,

yet they make their homes in the rocks;^*

²⁷the locusts have no king,

yet all of them march in rank;

²⁸the lizard^x can be grasped in the hand,

yet it is found in kings’ palaces.

²⁹Three things are stately in their stride;

four are stately in their gait:

³⁰the lion, which is mightiest among wild animals

and does not turn back before any;^*

³¹the strutting rooster,^y the he-goat,

and a king against whom none can stand.

³²If you have been foolish, exalting yourself,

or if you have been devising evil,

put your hand on your mouth.^*

³³For as pressing milk produces curds

and pressing the nose produces blood,

so pressing anger produces strife.^*

The Teaching of King Lemuel’s Mother

³¹The words of King Lemuel. An oracle that his mother taught him:^*

²No, my son! No, son of my womb!

No, son of my vows!^*

³Do not give your strength to women,

your ways to those who destroy kings.^*

⁴It is not for kings, O Lemuel,

it is not for kings to drink wine

or for rulers to desire^z strong drink,^*

⁵lest they drink and forget what has been decreed

and pervert the rights of all the afflicted.

⁶Give strong drink to one who is perishing

and wine to those in bitter distress;

⁷let them drink and forget their poverty

and remember their misery no more.

⁸Speak out for those who cannot speak,

for the rights of all the destitute.^a*

⁹Speak out; judge righteously;

defend the rights of the poor and needy.^*