Proverbs 30
30
The Words of Agur
1The words of Agur son of Jakeh. The oracle. # 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: # 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 man, # Lit I am more stupid than a man
and I lack man’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; # 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 # 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. # 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 beyond me;
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:
25the ants 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 # Or spider can be caught in your hands,
yet it lives in kings’ palaces.
29Three things are stately in their stride,
even four are stately in their walk:
30a lion, which is mightiest among beasts
and doesn’t retreat before anything,
31a strutting rooster, # Or a greyhound a goat,
and a king at the head of his army. # 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: HCSB
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© 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. All rights reserved.
Proverbs 30
30
1 The words of the Gatherer, the son of the Vomiter. The vision that the man spoke. God is with him, and he, being strengthened by God and abiding with him, said:
2 "I am the most foolish among men, and the wisdom of men is not with me.
3 I have not learned wisdom, and I have not known the knowledge of sanctity.
4 Who has ascended to heaven and also descended? Who has grasped the wind in his hands? Who has tied the waters together, as with a garment? Who has raised all the limits of the earth? What is his name, and what is the name of his son, if you know?
5 Every word of God is fire-tested. He is a bronze shield to those who hope in him.
6 Do not add anything to his words, lest you be reproved and be discovered to be a liar.
7 Two things I have asked of you; do not deny them to me before I die.
8 Remove, far from me, vanity and lying words. Give me neither begging, nor wealth. Apportion to me only the necessities of my life,
9 lest perhaps, being filled, I might be enticed into denial, and say: 'Who is the Lord?' Or, being compelled by destitution, I might steal, and then perjure myself in the name of my God.
10 Do not accuse a servant to his lord, lest he curse you, and you fall.
11 There is a generation which curses their father, and which does not bless their mother.
12 There is a generation which seems pure to themselves, and yet they are not even washed from their filthiness.
13 There is a generation, whose eyes have been elevated, and their eyelids are lifted on high.
14 There is a generation which has swords in place of teeth, and which commands their molars to devour the indigent from the earth and the poor from among men.
15 The leech has two daughters, who say, 'Bring, bring.' Three things are insatiable, and a fourth never says 'Enough':
16 Hell, and the mouth of the womb, and a land that is not filled with water. And truly, fire never says, 'Enough.'
17 The eye of one who mocks his father and who despises the childbearing of his mother, let the ravens of the torrent tear it out, and let the sons of the eagles consume it.
18 Three things are difficult for me, and about a fourth, I am nearly ignorant:
19 the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a serpent on a rock, the way of a ship in the middle of the sea, and the way of a man in adolescence.
20 Such is the way also of an adulterous woman, who eats, and wiping her mouth, says: "I have done no evil."
21 By three things, the earth is moved, and a fourth it is not able to sustain:
22 by a slave when he reigns, by the foolish when he has been filled with food,
23 by a hateful woman when she has been taken in matrimony, and by a handmaid when she has been heir to her mistress.
24 Four things are least upon the earth, and they are wiser than the wise:
25 the ants, an infirm people who provide food for themselves at the harvest,
26 the rabbit, a sickened people who make their bed upon the rock.
27 The locust has no king, but they all depart by their troops.
28 The lizard supports itself on hands and dwells in the buildings of kings.
29 There are three things that advance well, and a fourth that marches happily on:
30 a lion, the strongest of beasts, who fears nothing that he meets,
31 a rooster prepared at the loins, likewise a ram, and a king, whom none can resist.
32 There is one who has appeared foolish, after he was lifted up on high; for if he had understood, he would have placed his hand over his mouth.
33 But whoever strongly squeezes the udder to bring out the milk, presses out butter. And whoever violently blows his nose, brings out blood. And whoever provokes wrath, brings forth discord."
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