Proverbs Chapter 30

¹ The Words of Agur Ben-Jakeh, an Oracle

Agur says to Ithiel and Ucal:

² Surely I’m too stupid to be human;

      I don’t have common sense.

³ I haven’t mastered wisdom; 

      I don’t know the Holy One.

⁴ Who but God goes up to the sky and back down

            or grasps the wind in his fist?

      Who wraps up the ocean in his cloak

            or sets the boundaries of land?

      What’s his name? What’s his son’s name?

Tell me if you know!                                                  Prov 30:1-4

⁵ Every message from God proves true;

      he’s a shield for those who take refuge in him.

⁶ Don’t add to what he says;

      otherwise, he’ll reprove you

      and expose you as a liar.

⁷ I ask you for two things before I die:

      ⁸ first, keep me from being deceived*;

      second, don’t give me poverty or wealth;

            just give me what I need;

      ⁹ so, on the one hand, I won’t be full and deny you, saying,

            “Who needs Yahveh?”

      or, on the other hand, lack what I need and steal to get it,

      and so profane the name of my God.

¹⁰ Don’t slander a slave to his master,

      or he’ll curse you and you’ll pay for it.                           

Prov 30:5-10

¹¹ Some curse their father

      and don’t bless their mother.

¹² Some consider themselves pure,

      but they’re unwashed and filthy.

¹³ Some—how lofty their eyes!

            how high their brows!—

         ¹⁴some have teeth like swords

            and fangs like knives;

      they devour the poor and needy.

Prov 30:11-14

¹⁵ A leech has two daughters

            that cry, “More, give me more.”

Three things are never satisfied,

no, make that four that never say, “That’s enough”:

                  ¹⁶Sheol,

             a barren womb,

            desert ground,

            and a blazing fire

Prov 30:15-16

¹⁷ The eye that mocks father or scorns mother

      the ravens in the valley will pluck out,

      the vultures will eat.

¹⁸ Three things are too amazing for me,

no, make that four I don’t understand:

      ¹⁹ how an eagle flies in the sky,

      how a snake slithers on a ledge,

      how a ship moves on the ocean,

      and how a man is drawn to a maiden.

²⁰ An adulterous woman “consumes” a man,

      “wipes her mouth,” and says,

      “I haven’t done anything wrong.”                                  

Prov 30:17-20

²¹ Under three things the ground trembles,

no, make that four, it can’t endure:   

         ²²a slave that becomes king,

            a well-fed fool,

                  ²³an unloved woman that gets a husband,

            and a maid that replaces her mistress.

²⁴ Four things are small but especially wise:

      ²⁵ ants aren’t strong,

            but they store up their food in the summer;

      ²⁶ rock badgers aren’t powerful,

            but they make their homes in the rocks;

      ²⁷ locusts don’t have a king,

            but they march out in ranks;

      ²⁸ lizards are easy to catch with your hands,

            yet they’re in kings’ palaces.                                     

Prov 30:21-28

²⁹ Three things are stately in their stride,

no, four that walk with majestic bearing:

      ³⁰ a lion, powerful and unafraid among the animals;

         ³¹a strutting rooster,

       a billy goat,

      and a king leading his army.

³² If you’ve been foolish by acting proud

            or putting other people down,

      cover your mouth in shame.

³³ As churning cream makes butter

            and punching a nose makes it bleed,

      so stirring up anger causes quarrels.

Prov 30:29-33

31^;1The Words of King Lemuel

The Oracle His Mother Taught Him

² Please listen, son,

      son of my womb, son of my vows;