Proverbs 30
30
Sayings of Agur
1The sayings of Agur son of Jakeh – an inspired utterance.
This man’s utterance to Ithiel:
‘I am weary, God,
but I can prevail.#30:1 With a different word division of the Hebrew; Masoretic Text utterance to Ithiel, / to Ithiel and Ukal:
2Surely I am only a brute, not a man;
I do not have human understanding.
3I have not learned wisdom,
nor have I attained to the knowledge of the Holy One.
4Who has gone up to heaven and come down?
Whose hands have gathered up the wind?
Who has wrapped up the waters in a cloak?
Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is his name, and what is the name of his son?
Surely you know!
5‘Every word of God is flawless;
he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
6Do not add to his words,
or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.
7‘Two things I ask of you, Lord;
do not refuse me before I die:
8keep falsehood and lies far from me;
give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.
9Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you
and say, “Who is the Lord?”
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonour the name of my God.
10‘Do not slander a servant to their master,
or they will curse you, and you will pay for it.
11‘There are those who curse their fathers
and do not bless their mothers;
12those who are pure in their own eyes
and yet are not cleansed of their filth;
13those whose eyes are ever so haughty,
whose glances are so disdainful;
14those whose teeth are swords
and whose jaws are set with knives
to devour the poor from the earth
and the needy from among the human race.
15‘The leech has two daughters.
“Give! Give!” they cry.
‘There are three things that are never satisfied,
four that never say, “Enough!”:
16the grave
and the barren womb;
land, which is never satisfied with water,
and fire, which never says, “Enough!”
17‘The eye that mocks a father,
that scorns an aged mother,
will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley,
will be eaten by the vultures.
18‘There are three things that are too amazing for me,
four that 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 young woman.
20‘This is the way of an adulterous woman:
she eats and wipes her mouth
and says, “I’ve done nothing wrong.”
21‘Under three things the earth trembles,
under four it cannot bear up:
22a servant who becomes king,
a godless fool who gets plenty to eat,
23a contemptible woman who gets married,
and a servant who displaces her mistress.
24‘Four things on earth are small,
yet they are extremely wise:
25ants are creatures of little strength,
yet they store up their food in the summer;
26hyraxes are creatures of little power,
yet they make their home in the crags;
27locusts have no king,
yet they advance together in ranks;
28a 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:
30a lion, mighty among beasts, who retreats before nothing;
31a strutting cock,
a he-goat,
and a king secure against revolt.#30:31 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
32‘If you play the fool and exalt yourself,
or if you plan evil,
clap your hand over your mouth!
33For as churning cream produces butter,
and as twisting the nose produces blood,
so stirring up anger produces strife.’
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Proverbs 30: NIVUK
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The Holy Bible, New International Version® (Anglicised), NIV®
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Used by permission of Biblica, Inc.® All rights reserved worldwide.
Proverbs 30
30
1These are the words of Agur, son of Jakeh. An oracle. This is what the man says, God, I'm really tired, I'm worn out.#30:1. This verse is variously translated, mainly depending on whether it refers to named people or what the words actually mean. Since both the Septuagint and the Vulgate do not assume the words to be names, this approach is followed here.
2I'm so stupid I'm not really a man; I can't even think like a human being.
3I have not learned wisdom; I have no knowledge of the Holy One.
4Who has gone up to heaven, and come down? Who holds the winds in the palm of his hands? Who has wrapped up the waters in his cloak? Who has set the earth's boundaries? What is his name, and what is his son's name? Are you sure you don't know?#30:4. The point of the questions is to show that no one but the Creator could do all these things.
5Every word God says has been proved true. He defends everyone who comes to him for protection.
6Don't add anything to his words, or he will criticize you and you'll be shown to be a liar.
7God, I want to request two things from you. Please don't refuse to let me have them before I come to die.
8Keep me from being false, help me not to tell lies. Don't make me poor or rich; just provide me with the food I need.
9Otherwise if I have plenty of money,#30:9. “I have plenty of money”: literally, “I'm full.” I may give up on you, saying, “Who is the Lord?” while if I'm poor I may steal and bring the name of my God into disrepute.
10Don't slander a servant to his master, or he will curse you and you'll suffer for it.
11There are some who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers.
12There are some who see themselves as pure but they're still filthy—they have not been washed.
13There are some who think themselves so high and mighty, and who look down on others.
14There are some who have teeth like swords, incisors like knives, ready to devour the poor from the earth, the needy from society.
15The leech has two daughters who cry out, “Give me! Give me!”
There are three things that are never satisfied, four that never say, “Enough!”:
16The grave, the womb that doesn't become pregnant, the earth thirsty for water, and the fire that never says, “Enough!”
17People who ridicule their fathers and despise obedience to the mother will have their eyes pecked out by wild ravens and eaten by young vultures.
18These three things are amazingly hard for me, four things I just can't understand:
19The way an eagle soars in the sky, the way a snake slides over a rock, the way a ship sails across the sea, the way a man and a woman fall in love.
20This is the way of a woman who commits adultery: she eats,#30:20. This is often assumed to refer to the act of adultery. she wipes her mouth, and then says, “I haven't done anything wrong!”
21Three things make the earth tremble, there are four things it can't support:
22a slave becoming a king, a stupid person eating like a pig,
23an unbearable woman getting married, and a maidservant taking her mistress's place.
24There are four things on earth that are small, but very wise:
25Ants—they're not strong, but they work hard all summer storing up food.
26Hyraxes#30:26. Also known as rock badgers or coneys.—they don't have much power, but they make their homes in the rock.
27Locusts—they don't have a king, but they all march in line abreast.
28Lizards—you can catch them in your hands, but they live in the king's palace.
29There are three things that are glorious to watch as they walk, four that look dignified as they move:
30The lion, supreme among wild animals, who isn't frightened of anything.
31The strutting starling,#30:31. “Starling”: as per modern Hebrew and Aramaic, some ancient versions have “rooster.” the male goat, and a king with his army.
32If you have been foolishly boasting about yourself, or if you've been planning to do something wrong, stop and put your hand over your mouth.
33Just as churning milk produces butter, and twisting someone's nose makes it bleed, so stirring up anger causes arguments.
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com