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Proverbs 30:18-33

Proverbs 30:18-33 New American Standard Bible - NASB 1995 (NASB1995)

There are three things which are too wonderful for me, Four which I do not understand: 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 with a maid. This is the way of an adulterous woman: She eats and wipes her mouth, And says, “I have done no wrong.” Under three things the earth quakes, And under four, it cannot bear up: Under a slave when he becomes king, And a fool when he is satisfied with food, Under an unloved woman when she gets a husband, And a maidservant when she supplants her mistress. Four things are small on the earth, But they are exceedingly wise: The ants are not a strong people, But they prepare their food in the summer; The shephanim are not mighty people, Yet they make their houses in the rocks; The locusts have no king, Yet all of them go out in ranks; The lizard you may grasp with the hands, Yet it is in kings’ palaces. There are three things which are stately in their march, Even four which are stately when they walk: The lion which is mighty among beasts And does not retreat before any, The strutting rooster, the male goat also, And a king when his army is with him. If you have been foolish in exalting yourself Or if you have plotted evil, put your hand on your mouth. For the churning of milk produces butter, And pressing the nose brings forth blood; So the churning of anger produces strife.

Proverbs 30:18-33 American Standard Version (ASV)

There are three things which are too wonderful for me, Yea, four which I know not: 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 maiden. So is the way of an adulterous woman; She eateth, and wipeth her mouth, And saith, I have done no wickedness. For three things the earth doth tremble, And for four, which it cannot bear: For a servant when he is king; And a fool when he is filled with food; For an odious woman when she is married; And a handmaid that is heir to her mistress. There are four things which are little upon the earth, But they are exceeding wise: The ants are a people not strong, Yet they provide their food in the summer; The conies are but a feeble folk, Yet make they their houses in the rocks; The locusts have no king, Yet go they forth all of them by bands; The lizard taketh hold with her hands, Yet is she in kings’ palaces. There are three things which are stately in their march, Yea, four which are stately in going: The lion, which is mightiest among beasts, And turneth not away for any; The greyhound; the he-goat also; And the king against whom there is no rising up. If thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself, Or if thou hast thought evil, Lay thy hand upon thy mouth. For the churning of milk bringeth forth butter, And the wringing of the nose bringeth forth blood; So the forcing of wrath bringeth forth strife.

Proverbs 30:18-33 Amplified Bible (AMP)

¶There are three things which are too astounding and unexpectedly wonderful for me, Four which I do not understand: The way of an eagle in the air, 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 with a maid. This is the way of an adulterous woman: She eats and wipes her mouth And says, “I have done no wrong.” ¶Under three things the earth is disquieted and quakes, And under four it cannot bear up: Under a servant when he reigns, Under a [spiritually blind] fool when he is filled with food, Under an unloved woman when she gets married, And under a maidservant when she supplants her mistress. ¶There are four things that are small on the earth, But they are exceedingly wise: The ants are not a strong people, Yet they prepare their food in the summer; [Prov 6:6] The shephanim are not a mighty folk, Yet they make their houses in the rocks; [Ps 104:18] The locusts have no king, Yet all of them go out in groups; You may grasp the lizard with your hands, Yet it is in kings’ palaces. ¶There are three things which are stately in step, Even four which are stately in their stride: The lion, which is mighty among beasts And does not turn back before any; The strutting rooster, the male goat also, And the king when his army is with him. ¶If you have foolishly exalted yourself, Or if you have plotted evil, put your hand on your mouth. [Job 21:5; 40:4] Surely the churning of milk produces butter, And wringing the nose produces blood; So the churning of anger produces strife.

Proverbs 30:18-33 The Passion Translation (TPT)

There are four marvelous mysteries that are too amazing to unravel — who could fully explain them? The way an eagle flies in the sky, the way a snake glides on a boulder, the path of a ship as it passes through the sea, and the way a bridegroom falls in love with his bride. Here is the deceptive way of the adulterous woman: she takes what she wants and then says, “I’ve done nothing wrong.” There are four intolerable events that are simply unbearable to observe: when an unfaithful servant becomes a ruler, when a scoundrel comes into great wealth, when an unfaithful woman marries a good man, and when a mistress replaces a faithful wife. The earth has four creatures that are very small but very wise: The feeble ant has little strength, yet look how it diligently gathers its food in the summer to last throughout the winter. The delicate rock-badger isn’t all that strong, yet look how it makes a secure home, nestled in the rocks. The locusts have no king to lead them, yet they cooperate as they move forward by bands. And the small lizard is easy to catch as it clings to the walls with its hands, yet it can be found inside a king’s palace. There are four stately monarchs who are impressive to watch as they go forth: the lion, the king of the jungle, who is afraid of no one, the rooster strutting boldly among the hens, the male goat out in front leading the herd, and a king leading his regal procession. If you’ve acted foolishly by drawing attention to yourself, or if you’ve thought about saying something stupid, you’d better shut your mouth. For such stupidity may give you a bloody nose! Stirring up an argument only leads to an angry confrontation.