Proverbs 30
30
The Words of Agur Ben Yakeh
God? Who Needs Him?
1-2The skeptic swore, “There is no God!
No God!—I can do anything I want!
I’m more animal than human;
so-called human intelligence escapes me.
3-4“I flunked ‘wisdom.’
I see no evidence of a holy God.
Has anyone ever seen Anyone
climb into Heaven and take charge?
grab the winds and control them?
gather the rains in his bucket?
stake out the ends of the earth?
Just tell me his name, tell me the names of his sons.
Come on now—tell me!”
5-6The believer replied, “Every promise of God proves true;
he protects everyone who runs to him for help.
So don’t second-guess him;
he might take you to task and show up your lies.”
7-9And then he prayed, “God, I’m asking for two things
before I die; don’t refuse me—
Banish lies from my lips
and liars from my presence.
Give me enough food to live on,
neither too much nor too little.
If I’m too full, I might get independent,
saying, ‘God? Who needs him?’
If I’m poor, I might steal
and dishonor the name of my God.”
* * *
10Don’t blow the whistle on your fellow workers
behind their backs;
They’ll accuse you of being underhanded,
and then you’ll be the guilty one!
11Don’t curse your father
or fail to bless your mother.
12Don’t imagine yourself to be quite presentable
when you haven’t had a bath in weeks.
13Don’t be stuck-up
and think you’re better than everyone else.
14Don’t be greedy,
merciless and cruel as wolves,
Tearing into the poor and feasting on them,
shredding the needy to pieces only to discard them.
15-16A freeloader has twin daughters
named “Gimme” and “Gimme more.”
Four Insatiables
Three things are never satisfied,
no, there are four that never say, “That’s enough, thank you!”—
hell,
a barren womb,
a parched land,
a forest fire.
* * *
17An eye that disdains a father
and despises a mother—
that eye will be plucked out by wild vultures
and consumed by young eagles.
Four Mysteries
18-19Three things amaze me,
no, four things I’ll never understand—
how an eagle flies so high in the sky,
how a snake glides over a rock,
how a ship navigates the ocean,
why adolescents act the way they do.
* * *
20Here’s how a prostitute operates:
she has sex with her client,
Takes a bath,
then asks, “Who’s next?”
Four Intolerables
21-23Three things are too much for even the earth to bear,
yes, four things shake its foundations—
when the janitor becomes the boss,
when a fool gets rich,
when a prostitute is voted “woman of the year,”
when a “girlfriend” replaces a faithful wife.
Four Small Wonders
24-28There are four small creatures,
wisest of the wise they are—
ants—frail as they are,
get plenty of food in for the winter;
marmots—vulnerable as they are,
manage to arrange for rock-solid homes;
locusts—leaderless insects,
yet they strip the field like an army regiment;
lizards—easy enough to catch,
but they sneak past vigilant palace guards.
Four Dignitaries
29-31There are three solemn dignitaries,
four that are impressive in their bearing—
a lion, king of the beasts, deferring to none;
a rooster, proud and strutting;
a billy goat;
a head of state in stately procession.
* * *
32-33If you’re dumb enough to call attention to yourself
by offending people and making rude gestures,
Don’t be surprised if someone bloodies your nose.
Churned milk turns into butter;
riled emotions turn into fist fights.
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.
Proverbs 30
30
1Words of a Gatherer, son of an obedient one, the declaration, an affirmation of the man: — I have wearied myself [for] God, I have wearied myself [for] God, and am consumed.
2For I am more brutish than any one, And have not the understanding of a man.
3Nor have I learned wisdom, Yet the knowledge of Holy Ones I know.
4Who went up to heaven, and cometh down? Who hath gathered the wind in his fists? Who hath bound waters in a garment? Who established all ends of the earth? What [is] His name? and what His son's name? Surely thou knowest!
5Every saying of God [is] tried, A shield He [is] to those trusting in Him.
6Add not to His words, lest He reason with thee, And thou hast been found false.
7Two things I have asked from Thee, Withhold not from me before I die.
8Vanity and a lying word put far from me, Poverty or wealth give not to me, Cause me to eat the bread of my portion,
9Lest I become satiated, and have denied, And have said, ‘Who [is] Jehovah?’ And lest I be poor, and have stolen, And have laid hold of the name of my God.
10Accuse not a servant unto his lord, Lest he disesteem thee, and thou be found guilty.
11A generation [is], that lightly esteemeth their father, And their mother doth not bless.
12A generation — pure in their own eyes, But from their own filth not washed.
13A generation — how high are their eyes, Yea, their eyelids are lifted up.
14A generation — swords [are] their teeth, And knives — their jaw-teeth, To consume the poor from earth, And the needy from [among] men.
15To the leech [are] two daughters, ‘Give, give, Lo, three things are not satisfied, Four have not said ‘Sufficiency;’
16Sheol, and a restrained womb, Earth — it [is] not satisfied [with] water, And fire — it hath not said, ‘Sufficiency,’
17An eye that mocketh at a father, And despiseth to obey a mother, Dig it out do ravens of the valley, And eat it do young eagles.
18Three things have been too wonderful for me, Yea, four that I have not known:
19The way of the eagle in the heavens, The way of a serpent on a rock, The way of a ship in the heart of the sea, And the way of a man in youth.
20So — the way of an adulterous woman, She hath eaten and hath wiped her mouth, And hath said, ‘I have not done iniquity.’
21For three things hath earth been troubled, And for four — it is not able to bear:
22For a servant when he reigneth, And a fool when he is satisfied with bread,
23For a hated one when she ruleth, And a maid-servant when she succeedeth her mistress.
24Four [are] little ones of earth, And they are made wiser than the wise:
25The ants [are] a people not strong, And they prepare in summer their food,
26Conies [are] a people not strong, And they place in a rock their house,
27A king there is not to the locust, And it goeth out — each one shouting,
28A spider with two hands taketh hold, And is in the palaces of a king.
29Three there are going well, Yea, four are good in going:
30An old lion — mighty among beasts, That turneth not back from the face of any,
31A girt one of the loins, or a he-goat, And a king — no rising up with him.
32If thou hast been foolish in lifting up thyself, And if thou hast devised evil — hand to mouth!
33For the churning of milk bringeth out butter, And the wringing of the nose bringeth out blood, And the forcing of anger bringeth out strife!
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