The Words of Agur
and I lack man’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;[d]
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.
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[e] the name of my God.
or he will curse you, and you will become guilty.
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.[f]
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.
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!”
and despises obedience to a mother,
may ravens of the valley pluck it out
and young vultures eat it.
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.
she eats and wipes her mouth
and says, “I’ve done nothing wrong.”
it cannot bear up under four:
22 a servant when he becomes king,
a fool when he is stuffed with food,
23 an unloved woman when she marries,
and a servant girl when she ousts her queen.
yet they are extremely wise:
25 the ants are not a strong people,
yet they store up their food in the summer;
26 hyraxes are not a mighty people,
yet they make their homes in the cliffs;
27 locusts have no king,
yet all of them march in ranks;
28 a lizard[g] can be caught in your hands,
yet it lives in kings’ palaces.
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]
or if you’ve been scheming,
put your hand over your mouth.
33 For the churning of milk produces butter,
and twisting a nose draws blood,
and stirring up anger produces strife.
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