Proverbs 30
30
The Sayings of Agur
1These are the sayings
and the message
of Agur son of Jakeh.
Someone cries out to God,
“I am completely worn out!
How can I last?#30.1 last: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 1.
2I am far too stupid
to be considered human.
3I never was wise,
and I don't understand
what God is like.”
4 #
3 Macc 2.15. Has anyone gone up to heaven
and come back down?
Has anyone grabbed hold
of the wind?
Has anyone wrapped up the sea
or marked out boundaries
for the earth?
If you know of any
who have done such things,
then tell me their names
and their children's names.
5Everything God says is true—
and it's a shield for all
who come to him for safety.
6Don't change what God has said!
He will correct you and show
that you are a liar.
7There are two things, Lord,
I want you to do for me
before I die:
8Make me absolutely honest
and don't let me be too poor
or too rich.
Give me just what I need.
9If I have too much to eat,
I might forget about you;
if I don't have enough,
I might steal
and disgrace your name.
10Don't tell a slave owner
something bad about one
of the slaves.
That slave will curse you,
and you will be in trouble.
11Some people curse their father
and even their mother;
12others think they are perfect,
but they are stained by sin.
13Some people are stuck-up
and act like snobs;
14others are so greedy
that they gobble up
the poor and homeless.
15Greed#30.15 Greed: Or “A leech.” has twins,
each named “Give me!”
There are three or four things
that are never satisfied:
16The world of the dead
and a childless wife,
the thirsty earth
and a flaming fire.
17Don't make fun of your father
or disobey your mother—
crows will peck out your eyes,
and buzzards will eat
the rest of you.
18There are three or four things
I cannot understand:
19 #
Ws 5.10-12. How eagles fly so high
or snakes crawl on rocks,
how ships sail the ocean
or people fall in love.
20An unfaithful wife says,
“Sleeping with another man
is as natural as eating.”
21There are three or four things
that make the earth tremble
and are unbearable:
22A slave who becomes king,
a fool who eats too much,
23a hateful woman
who finds a husband,
and a slave who takes the place
of the woman who owns her.
24On this earth four things
are small but very wise:
25Ants, who seem to be feeble,
but store up food
all summer long;
26badgers, who seem to be weak,
but live among the rocks;
27locusts, who have no king,
but march like an army;
28lizards,#30.28 lizards: Or “spiders.” which can be caught
in your hand,
but sneak into palaces.
29Three or four creatures
really strut around:
30Those fearless lions
who rule the jungle,
31those proud roosters,
those mountain goats,
and those rulers
who have no enemies.#30.31 enemies: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 31.
32If you are foolishly bragging
or planning something evil,
then stop it now!
33If you churn milk
you get butter;
if you pound on your nose,
you get blood—
and if you stay angry,
you get in trouble.
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Proverbs 30: CEVDCI
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Proverbs 30
30
The Sayings of Agur
1The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, the oracle.
The man declares to Ithiel,
to Ithiel and Ukal:
2#Ps 73:22 Surely I am more brutish than any man,
and have not the understanding of a man.
3#Pr 9:10 I neither learned wisdom,
nor have the knowledge of the holy.
4#Jn 3:13; Job 26:8; Ps 2:7 Who has ascended up into heaven, or descended?
Who has gathered the wind in his fists?
Who has bound the waters in a garment?
Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is His name, and what is the name of His son,
if you know?
5#Ps 12:6; 18:30 Every word of God is pure;
He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.
6#Dt 4:2; 12:32 Do not add to His words,
lest He reprove you, and you be found a liar.
7Two things I have required of you;
do not deny me them before I die:
8#Mt 6:11; Lk 11:3 Remove vanity and lies far from me—
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with food convenient for me;
9#Ex 20:7; Dt 31:20 lest I be full, and deny You,
and say, “Who is the Lord?”
or lest I be poor, and steal,
and take the name of my God in vain.
10Do not accuse a servant to his master,
lest he curse you, and you be found guilty.
11#Pr 20:20; 30:17 There is a generation that curses their father,
and does not bless its mother.
12#Lk 18:11; Pr 16:2 There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes,
and yet is not washed from its filthiness.
13#Pr 6:17; Ps 101:5 There is a generation—oh, how lofty are their eyes!
And their eyelids are lifted up.
14#Job 29:17; Ps 14:4 There is a generation whose teeth are as swords,
and their jaw teeth as knives,
to devour the poor from off the earth,
and the needy from among men.
15#Pr 6:16; 30:21 The leech has two daughters,
crying, “Give, give.”
There are three things that are never satisfied,
indeed, four things never say, “It is enough”:
16#Pr 27:20; Hab 2:5 the grave, the barren womb,
the earth that is not filled with water,
and the fire that never says, “It is enough.”
17#Pr 23:22; Dt 21:18–21 The eye that mocks at his father,
and despises to obey his mother,
the ravens of the valley will pick it out,
and the young eagles will eat it.
18#Job 42:3 There are three things which are too wonderful for me,
indeed, four which I do not know:
19the way of an eagle in the air,
the way of a serpent on a rock,
the way of a ship in the midst of the sea,
and the way of a man with a maid.
20Such is the way of an adulterous woman;
she eats and wipes her mouth,
and says, “I have done no wickedness.”
21For three things the earth is disquieted,
and for four which it cannot bear:
22#Pr 19:10; Ecc 10:7 for a servant when he reigns,
and a fool when he is filled with food,
23for a hateful woman when she is married,
and a handmaid who is heir to her mistress.
24There are four things which are little upon the earth,
but they are exceeding wise:
25#Pr 6:6–8 The ants are a people not strong,
yet they prepare their food in the summer;
26#Ps 104:18; Lev 11:5 the badgers are but a feeble folk,
yet they make their houses in the rocks;
27#Joel 2:25 the locusts have no king,
yet they go forth all of them by bands;
28the spider takes hold with her hands,
and is in kings’ palaces.
29There are three things which go well,
indeed, four are comely in going:
30#Jdg 14:18 a lion which is strongest among beasts,
and does not turn away for any;
31a strutting rooster, a male goat also,
and a king, against whom there is no rising up.
32#Job 21:5; 40:4 If you have been foolish in lifting up yourself,
or if you have thought evil,
put your hand on your mouth.
33#Pr 29:22 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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