30:1 The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, the pronouncement. The man declares to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal:
30:2 I am certainly more stupid than any man,
And I do not have the understanding of a man;
30:3 Nor have I learned wisdom,
Nor do I have the knowledge of the Holy One.
30:4 Who has ascended into heaven and descended?
Who has gathered the wind in His fists?
Who has wrapped the waters in ①His garment?
Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is His name or His ②Son’s name?
Surely you know!
▷ ①Lit the ②Or son’s
30:5 Every word of God is ①pure;
He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.
▷ ①Lit refined
30:6 Do not add to His words
Or He will rebuke you, and you will be proved a liar.
30:7 Two things I have asked of You;
Do not refuse me before I die:
30:8 Keep deception and ①lies far from me,
Give me neither poverty nor riches;
Feed me with the food that is my portion,
▷ ①Lit words of falsehood
30:9 So that I will not be full and deny You and say, “Who is the LORD?”
And that I will not become impoverished and steal,
And profane the name of my God.
30:10 Do not slander a slave to his master,
Or he will curse you and you will be found guilty.
30:11 There is a ①kind of person who curses his father
And does not bless his mother.
▷ ①Or generation
30:12 There is a ①kind who is pure in his own eyes,
Yet is not washed from his filthiness.
▷ ①Or generation
30:13 There is a ①kind—oh how lofty are his eyes!
And his eyelids are raised in arrogance.
▷ ①Or generation
30:14 There is a ①kind of person whose teeth are like swords
And his jaw teeth like knives,
To devour the poor from the earth
And the needy from among mankind.
▷ ①Or generation
30:15 The leech has two daughters:
“Give” and “Give.”
There are three things that will not be satisfied,
Four that will not say, “Enough”:
30:16 ①Sheol, the infertile womb,
Earth that is never satisfied with water,
And fire that never says, “Enough.”
▷ ①I.e., The netherworld
30:17 The eye that mocks a father
And ①scorns a mother,
The ravens of the valley will pick it out,
And the young eagles will eat it.
▷ ①Lit despises to obey
30:18 There are three things which are too wonderful for me,
Four which I do not understand:
30:19 The way of the eagle in the sky,
The way of a snake on a rock,
The way of a ship in the middle of the sea,
And the way of a man with a ①virgin.
▷ ①Lit young unmarried woman
30:20 This is the way of an adulterous woman:
She eats and wipes her mouth,
And says, “I have done no wrong.”
30:21 Under three things the earth quakes,
And under four, it cannot endure:
30:22 Under a slave when he becomes king,
And a fool when he is satisfied with food,
30:23 Under an unloved woman when she gets a husband,
And a female servant when she dispossesses her mistress.
30:24 Four things are small on the earth,
But they are exceedingly wise:
30:25 The ants are not a strong people,
But they prepare their food in the summer;
30:26 The rock hyraxes are not a mighty people,
Yet they make their houses in the rocks;
30:27 The locusts have no king,
Yet all of them go out in ranks;
30:28 The lizard you may grasp with the hands,
Yet it is in kings’ palaces.
30:29 There are three things which are stately in their march,
Even four which are stately when they walk:
30:30 The lion, which is mighty among animals
And does not ①retreat from anything,
▷ ①Lit turn back
30:31 The ①strutting rooster or the male goat,
And a king when his army is with him.
▷ ①Lit girt in the loins
30:32 If you have been foolish in exalting yourself,
Or if you have plotted evil, put your hand on your mouth.
30:33 For the ①churning of milk produces butter,
And pressing the nose produces blood;
So the ②churning of anger produces strife.
▷ ①Lit pressing ②Lit pressing