Proverbs 30
30
Wise Sayings of Agur Son of Jakeh
1These are the wise sayings of Agur son of Jakeh from Massa. He says, “God, I am tired, so tired. How can I keep going?”#30:1 He says, “God, … keep going?” Or “This is his message to Ithiel and Ucal.”
2I am stupid. I am not as smart as other people are. 3I have not learned to be wise. I know nothing about the Holy One.#30:3 Holy One Literally, “the holy ones.” 4Who has ever gone up to heaven and come back down? Who gathered the winds in his hand? Who can gather up all the water in his lap? Who set the limits for the world? What is his name, and what is his son’s name? Do you know?
5You can trust this: Every word that God speaks is true. God is a safe place for those who go to him. 6So don’t try to change what God says. If you do, he will punish you and prove that you are a liar.
7God, I ask you to do two things for me before I die. 8Don’t let me tell lies. And don’t make me too rich or too poor—give me only enough food for each day. 9If I have too much, I might deny that I need you, Lord. But if I am too poor, I might steal and bring shame to the name of my God.
10Never say bad things about a slave to his master. If you do, he will curse you, and you will suffer for it.
11Some people curse their fathers and refuse to bless their mothers.
12Some people think they are pure, but they have done nothing to remove the filth of their sin.
13Some people are so proud of themselves, and they look down on everyone else.
14There are people whose teeth are like swords and their jaws like knives. They take everything they can from the poor.
15Greedy people know only two things#30:15 Literally, “A leech has two daughters.”: “Give me,” and “Give me.” There are three other things that are never satisfied—really, four things that never have enough: 16the place of death, a woman with no children, dry ground that needs rain, and a fire that will never stop by itself.
17People who make fun of their father or refuse to obey their mother should have their eyes plucked out by wild birds and be eaten by vultures.
18There are three things that are hard for me to understand—really, four things that I don’t understand: 19an eagle flying in the sky, a snake moving on a rock, a ship moving across the ocean, and a man in love with a woman.
20A woman who is not faithful to her husband acts innocent. She eats, wipes her mouth, and says she has done nothing wrong.
21There are three things that make trouble on the earth—really, four that the earth cannot bear: 22a slave who becomes a king, fools who have everything they need, 23a woman whose husband hated her but still married her, and a servant girl who becomes ruler over the woman she serves.
24There are four things on the earth that are small but very wise:
25Ants are small and weak, but they save their food all summer;
26badgers are small animals, but they make their homes in the rocks;
27locusts have no king, but they are able to work together;
28lizards are small enough to catch with your hands, but you can find them living in kings’ palaces.
29There are three things that act important when they walk—really, there are four:
30a lion—he is the warrior of the animals and runs from nothing,
31a rooster walking proudly,#30:31 a rooster walking proudly Or possibly, “a greyhound” or “a war horse.”
a goat,
and a king among his people.
32If you have been foolish enough to become proud and make plans against other people, stop and think about what you are doing.
33Stirring milk causes butter to form. Hitting someone’s nose causes blood to flow. And making people angry causes trouble.
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
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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