Proverbs 30
30
The Words of Agur
1The words of Agur son of Jakeh. The pronouncement.#30:1 Or son of Jakeh from Massa; Pr 31:1#Nm 24:3; Pr 31:1; Nah 1:1; Hab 1:1; Zch 9:1; Mal 1:1
The man’s oration to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal:#30:1 Hb uncertain. Sometimes read with different word division as oration: I am weary, God, I am weary, God, and I am exhausted, or oration: I am not God, I am not God, that I should prevail. LXX reads My son, fear my words and when you have received them repent. The man says these things to the believers in God, and I pause.
2I am more stupid than any other person,#30:2 Lit I am more stupid than a man
and I lack a human’s ability to understand.#1Kg 3:7
3I have not gained wisdom,
and I have no knowledge of the Holy One.#Pr 9:10
4Who has gone up to heaven and come down?#Jn 3:13; Eph 4:9–10
Who has gathered the wind in his hands?
Who has bound up the waters in a cloak?#Jb 26:8; 38:9
Who has established all the ends of the earth?#Jb 38:4–5; Ps 93:1; 119:90; Is 45:18
What is his name,
and what is the name of his son —
if you know?#Mt 11:27; Rv 19:12–13
5Every word of God is pure;#30:5 Lit refined#Ps 12:6; 18:30
he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.#Ps 3:3
6Don’t add to his words,#Dt 4:2; 12:32; Rv 22:18
or he will rebuke you, and you will be proved a liar.#Dt 18:22
7Two things I ask of you;
don’t deny them to me before I die:
8Keep falsehood and deceitful words far from me.
Give me neither poverty nor wealth;
feed me with the food I need.#Jb 23:12; Mt 6:11; Php 4:11–12
9Otherwise, I might have too much#Dt 6:10–12; 8:11–14
and deny you,#Jos 24:27; Jb 31:28 saying, “Who is the Lord?” #Ex 5:2
or I might have nothing and steal,#Ex 20:5; Eph 4:28
profaning#30:9 Lit grabbing the name of my God.#Lv 19:11–12
10Don’t slander a servant to his master
or he will curse you,#Ec 7:21 and you will become guilty.
11There is a generation that curses its father
and does not bless its mother.#Ex 21:17; Pr 20:20
12There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes,#Pr 16:2; Lk 18:11
yet is not washed from its filth.
13There is a generation — how haughty its eyes
and pretentious its looks.#30:13 Lit and its eyelids lifted up
14There is a generation whose teeth are swords,#Ps 57:4
whose fangs are knives,#Jb 29:17
devouring the oppressed from the land#Ps 14:4
and the needy from among mankind.
15The leech has two daughters: “Give, Give!”
Three things#Pr 6:16; 30:18,21,29 are never satisfied;
four never say, “Enough!”:
16Sheol;#Pr 27:20; Hab 2:5 a childless womb;#Gn 30:1
earth, which is never satisfied with water;
and fire, which never says, “Enough!”
17As for the eye that ridicules a father#Gn 9:22
and despises obedience to a mother,
may ravens of the valley pluck it out
and young vultures eat it.#Dt 28:26
18Three things are too wondrous for me;#Jb 42:3; Ps 131; 139:6
four I can’t understand:
19the way of an eagle in the sky,
the way of a snake on a rock,
the way of a ship at sea,
and the way of a man with a young woman.
20This is the way of an adulteress:
she eats and wipes her mouth
and says, “I’ve done nothing wrong.”#Pr 28:24; 1Jn 1:8
21The earth trembles under three things;
it cannot bear up under four:
22a servant when he becomes king,#Pr 19:10; Ec 10:7
a fool when he is stuffed with food,
23an unloved woman when she marries,#Gn 29:30–31; Dt 21:15
and a servant girl when she ousts her queen.
24Four things on earth are small,
yet they are extremely wise:
25ants are not a strong people,
yet they store up their food in the summer;#Pr 6:6–8
26hyraxes are not a mighty people,
yet they make their homes in the cliffs;#Lv 11:5; Ps 104:18
27locusts have no king,
yet all of them march in ranks;#Jl 2:7–8
28a lizard#30:28 Or spider can be caught in your hands,
yet it lives in kings’ palaces.
29Three things are stately in their stride;
four are stately in their walk:
30a lion, which is mightiest among beasts
and doesn’t retreat before anything;
31a strutting rooster;#30:31 Or a greyhound a goat;
and a king at the head of his army.#30:31 LXX reads king addressing his people
32If you have been foolish by exalting yourself
or if you’ve been scheming,
put your hand over your mouth.#Jb 21:5; Mc 7:16
33For the churning of milk produces butter,
and twisting a nose draws blood,
and stirring up anger produces strife.#Pr 10:12; 29:22
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Proverbs 30: CSB
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Proverbs 30
30
1 THE WORDS of Agur son of Jakeh of Massa: The man says to Ithiel, to Ithiel and to Ucal:
2 Surely I am too brutish and stupid to be called a man, and I have not the understanding of a man [for all my secular learning is as nothing].
3 I have not learned skillful and godly Wisdom, that I should have the knowledge or burden of the Holy One.
4 Who has ascended into heaven and descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has bound the waters in His garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is His Son's name, if you know? [John 3:13; Rev. 19:12.]
5 Every word of God is tried and purified; He is a shield to those who trust and take refuge in Him. [Ps. 18:30; 84:11; 115:9-11.]
6 Add not to His words, lest He reprove you, and you be found a liar.
7 Two things have I asked of You [O Lord]; deny them not to me before I die:
8 Remove far from me falsehood and lies; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me,
9 Lest I be full and deny You and say, Who is the Lord? Or lest I be poor and steal, and so profane the name of my God. [Deut. 8:12, 14, 17; Neh. 9:25, 26; Job 31:24; Hos. 13:6.]
10 Do not accuse and hurt a servant before his master, lest he curse you, and you be held guilty [of adding to the burdens of the lowly].
11 There is a class of people who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers.
12 There is a class of people who are pure in their own eyes, and yet are not washed from their own filth.
13 There is a class of people–oh, how lofty are their eyes and their raised eyelids!
14 There is a class of people whose teeth are as swords and whose fangs as knives, to devour the poor from the earth and the needy from among men.
15 The leech has two daughters, crying, Give, give! There are three things that are never satisfied, yes, four that do not say, It is enough:
16 Sheol (the place of the dead), the barren womb, the earth that is not satisfied with water, and the fire that says not, It is enough.
17 The eye that mocks a father and scorns to obey a mother, the ravens of the valley will pick it out, and the young vultures will devour it. [Lev. 20:9; Prov. 20:20; 23:22.]
18 There are three things which are too wonderful for me, yes, four which I do not understand:
19 The way of an eagle in the air, the way of a serpent upon a rock, the way of a ship in the midst of the sea, and the way of a man with a maid.
20 This is the way of an adulterous woman: she eats and wipes her mouth and says, 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 reigns, a [empty-headed] fool when he is filled with food,
23 An unloved and repugnant woman when she is married, and a maidservant when she supplants 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 lay up their food in the summer; [Prov. 6:6.]
26 The conies are but a feeble folk, yet they make their houses in the rocks; [Ps. 104:18.]
27 The locusts have no king, yet they go forth all of them by bands;
28 The lizard you can seize with your hands, yet it is in kings' palaces.
29 There are three things which are stately in step, yes, four which are stately in their stride:
30 The lion, which is mightiest among beasts and turns not back before any;
31 The war horse [well-knit in the loins], the male goat also, and the king [when his army is with him and] against whom there is no uprising.
32 If you have done foolishly in exalting yourself, or if you have thought evil, lay your hand upon your mouth. [Job 21:5; 40:4.]
33 Surely the churning of milk brings forth butter, and the wringing of the nose brings forth blood; so the forcing of wrath brings forth strife.
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