Proverbs / The Sayings of Agur: Humility and Observations

The Sayings of Agur: Humility and Observations

Proverbs 30:1-33

Chapter 30

¹ The words of Agur son of Jakeh, the burden, the utterance of the man to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal. ² For I am brutish compared to man, and I have no understanding of humanity. ³ And I have not learned wisdom, and I know the knowledge of the holy ones. ⁴ Who has gone up to the heavens and come down? Who has gathered the wind in his palms? Who has bound the waters in a garment? 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 proves to be true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. ⁶ Do not add to his words, lest he reprove you and you be found false. ⁷ Two things I have asked of you; do not withhold them from me before I die. ⁸ Emptiness and falsehood, keep far from me; neither poverty nor riches give to me; feed me with the bread that is my portion. ⁹ lest I be full and deny him, and say, "Who is the LORD?", and lest I be poor and steal, and seize the name of my God. ¹⁰ Do not slander a servant to his master, lest he curse you and you be guilty. ¹¹ A generation curses its father and its mother; it does not bless. ¹² A generation pure in its own eyes, which has not washed its finding. ¹³ A generation—how high its eyes, and its eyelids are lifted up! ¹⁴ A generation whose teeth are their swords and knives from their molars, to eat the poor from the earth and the needy from among men. ¹⁵ To the leech are two daughters: "Give! Give!" There are three; they are not satisfied. Four have not said, "Wealth!" ¹⁶ Sheol and a barren womb, the land not satisfied with water, and fire not saying, "Enough!" ¹⁷ An eye that mocks a father and despises a mother—the raven of the valley will pick it out, and the sons of an eagle will eat it. ¹⁸ There are three extraordinary things too wonderful for me, and four I do not know. ¹⁹ the way of the eagle in the heavens, the way of the serpent on the rock, the way of a ship in the heart of the sea, and the way of a man with a virgin. ²⁰ This is the way of an adulteress: she eats and wipes her mouth, and says, "I have not done iniquity." ²¹ Under three things the earth trembles, and under four it cannot bear it. ²² Under a servant when he reigns, and a fool when he is filled with food. ²³ under a hated woman when she is married, and a maidservant when she inherits her mistress ²⁴ There are four small things on earth, and they are extremely wise. ²⁵ The ants—a people not strong—prepare their food in the summer. ²⁶ Hyraxes are not mighty, and they make their houses in the Rock. ²⁷ The locusts have no king, yet they all march out in ranks. ²⁸ The lizard grasps with its hands, and it is in the kings' palaces. ²⁹ Three are good at stepping, and four are good at going. ³⁰ There is a mighty one among the beasts, and he does not retreat from the presence of all. ³¹ A loin girdle or a he-goat and a king against whom none is with him. ³² If you have acted the fool in exalting yourself, or if you have schemed hand to hand. ³³ For the squeezing of fat brings out butter, and the squeezing of the nostril/anger brings out blood, and the squeezing of nostrils brings out judicial controversy.