The Words of Agur
30 The words of Agur son of Jakeh. The oracle.[a](A)
The man’s oration to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal:[b]
2 I am more stupid than any other man,[c]
and I lack man’s ability to understand.(B)
3 I have not gained wisdom,
and I have no knowledge of the Holy One.(C)
4 Who has gone up to heaven and come down?(D)
Who has gathered the wind in His hands?
Who has bound up the waters in a cloak?(E)
Who has established all the ends of the earth?(F)
What is His name,
and what is the name of His Son—
if you know?(G)
5 Every word of God is pure;[d](H)
He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.(I)
6 Don’t add to His words,(J)
or He will rebuke you, and you will be proved a liar.(K)
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.(L)
9 Otherwise, I might have too much(M)
and deny You,(N) saying, “Who is the Lord?”(O)
or I might have nothing and steal,(P)
profaning[e] the name of my God.(Q)
10 Don’t slander a servant to his master
or he will curse you,(R) and you will become guilty.
11 There is a generation that curses its father
and does not bless its mother.(S)
12 There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes,(T)
yet is not washed from its filth.
13 There is a generation—how haughty its eyes
and pretentious its looks.[f]
14 There is a generation whose teeth are swords,(U)
whose fangs are knives,(V)
devouring the oppressed from the land(W)
and the needy from among mankind.
15 The leech has two daughters: “Give, Give!”
Three things(X) are never satisfied;
four never say, “Enough!”:
16 Sheol;(Y) a childless womb;(Z)
earth, which is never satisfied with water;
and fire, which never says, “Enough!”
17 As for the eye that ridicules a father(AA)
and despises obedience to a mother,
may ravens of the valley pluck it out
and young vultures eat it.(AB)
18 Three things are beyond 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.”(AC)
21 The earth trembles under three things;
it cannot bear up under four:
22 a servant when he becomes king,(AD)
a fool when he is stuffed with food,
23 an unloved woman when she marries,(AE)
and a servant girl when she ousts her queen.
24 Four things on earth are small,
yet they are extremely wise:
25 the ants are not a strong people,
yet they store up their food in the summer;(AF)
26 hyraxes are not a mighty people,
yet they make their homes in the cliffs;(AG)
27 locusts have no king,
yet all of them march in ranks;(AH)
28 a lizard[g] can be caught in your hands,
yet it lives in kings’ palaces.
29 Three things are stately in their stride,
even four are stately in their walk:
30 a lion, which is mightiest among beasts
and doesn’t retreat before anything,
31 a strutting rooster,[h] a goat,
and a king at the head of his army.[i]
32 If you have been foolish by exalting yourself
or if you’ve been scheming,
put your hand over your mouth.(AI)
33 For the churning of milk produces butter,
and twisting a nose draws blood,
and stirring up anger produces strife.(AJ)
Footnotes
- Proverbs 30:1 Or son of Jakeh from Massa; Pr 31:1
- Proverbs 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.
- Proverbs 30:2 Lit I am more stupid than a man
- Proverbs 30:5 Lit refined
- Proverbs 30:9 Lit grabbing
- Proverbs 30:13 Lit and its eyelids lifted up
- Proverbs 30:28 Or spider
- Proverbs 30:31 Or a greyhound
- Proverbs 30:31 LXX reads king addressing his people
Cross references
- 30:1 : Nm 24:3; Pr 31:1; Nah 1:1; Hab 1:1; Zch 9:1; Mal 1:1
- 30:2 : 1Kg 3:7
- 30:3 : Pr 9:10
- 30:4 : Jn 3:13; Eph 4:9-10
- 30:4 : Jb 26:8; 38:9
- 30:4 : Jb 38:4-5; Ps 93:1; 119:90; Is 45:18
- 30:4 : Mt 11:27; Rv 19:12-13
- 30:5 : Ps 12:6; 18:30
- 30:5 : Ps 3:3
- 30:6 : Dt 4:2; 12:32; Rv 22:18
- 30:6 : Dt 18:22
- 30:8 : Jb 23:12; Mt 6:11; Php 4:11-12
- 30:9 : Dt 6:10-12; 8:11-14
- 30:9 : Jos 24:27; Jb 31:28
- 30:9 : Ex 5:2
- 30:9 : Ex 20:5; Eph 4:28
- 30:9 : Lv 19:11-12
- 30:10 : Ec 7:21
- 30:11 : Ex 21:17; Pr 20:20
- 30:12 : Pr 16:2; Lk 18:11
- 30:14 : Ps 57:4
- 30:14 : Jb 29:17
- 30:14 : Ps 14:4
- 30:15 : Pr 6:16; 30:18, 21, 29
- 30:16 : Pr 27:20; Hab 2:5
- 30:16 : Gn 30:1
- 30:17 : Gn 9:22
- 30:17 : Dt 28:26
- 30:20 : Pr 28:24; 1Jn 1:8
- 30:22 : Pr 19:10; Ec 10:7
- 30:23 : Gn 29:30-31; Dt 21:15
- 30:25 : Pr 6:6-8
- 30:26 : Lv 11:5; Ps 104:18
- 30:27 : Jl 2:7-8
- 30:32 : Jb 21:5; Mc 7:16
- 30:33 : Pr 10:12; 29:22