Proverbs 30:1-20 ▼

1 The words of Agur son of Jakeh. The pronouncement. The man’s oration to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal:

2 I am more stupid than any other person, and I lack a human’s ability to understand.

3 I have not gained wisdom, and I have no knowledge of the Holy One.

4 Who has gone up to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in his hands? Who has bound up the waters in a cloak? 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 Every word of God is pure; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

6 Don’t add to his words, or he will rebuke you, and you will be proved a liar.

7 Two things I ask of you; don’t deny them to me before I die:

8 Keep falsehood and deceitful words far from me. Give me neither poverty nor wealth; feed me with the food I need.

9 Otherwise, I might have too much and deny you, saying, “Who is the LORD? ” or I might have nothing and steal, profaning the name of my God.

10 Don’t slander a servant to his master or he will curse you, and you will become guilty.

11 There is a generation that curses its father and does not bless its mother.

12 There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes, yet is not washed from its filth.

13 There is a generation—how haughty its eyes and pretentious its looks.

14 There is a generation whose teeth are swords, whose fangs are knives, devouring the oppressed from the land and the needy from among mankind.

15 The leech has two daughters: “Give, Give! ” Three things are never satisfied; four never say, “Enough! ”:

16 Sheol; a childless womb; earth, which is never satisfied with water; and fire, which never says, “Enough! ”

17 As for the eye that ridicules a father and despises obedience to a mother, may ravens of the valley pluck it out and young vultures eat it.

18 Three things are too wondrous for me; four I can’t understand:

19 the 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.

20 This is the way of an adulteress: she eats and wipes her mouth and says, “I’ve done nothing wrong.”