30:1 The words of Agur, son of Jakeh the Massaite: The pronouncement of mortal man: "I am not God; I am not God, that I should prevail.
30:2 Why, I am the most stupid of men, and have not even human intelligence;
30:3 Neither have I learned wisdom, nor have I the knowledge of the Holy One.
30:4 Who has gone up to heaven and come down again ? who has cupped the wind in his hands? Who has bound up the waters in a cloak ? who has marked out all the ends of the earth? What is his name, what is his son’s name, if you know it?"
30:5 Every word of God is tested; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
30:6 Add nothing to his words, lest he reprove you, and you be exposed as a deceiver.
30:7 Two things I ask of you, deny them not to me before I die:
30:8 Put falsehood and lying far from me, give me neither poverty nor riches;
30:9 Lest, being full, I deny you, saying, "Who is the LORD?" Or, being in want, I steal, and profane the name of my God.
30:10 Slander not a servant to his master, lest he curse you, and you have to pay the penalty.
30:11 There is a group of people that curses its father, and blesses not its mother.
30:12 There is a group that is pure in its own eyes, yet is not purged of its filth.
30:13 There is a group ?how haughty their eyes! how overbearing their glance!
30:14 There is a group whose incisors are swords, whose teeth are knives, Devouring the needy from the earth, and the poor from among men.
30:15 The two daughters of the leech are, "Give, Give." Three things are never satisfied, four never say, "Enough!"
30:16 The nether world, and the barren womb; the earth, that is never saturated with water, and fire, that never says, "Enough!"
30:17 The eye that mocks a father, or scorns an aged mother, Will be plucked out by the ravens in the valley; the young eagles will devour it.
30:18 Three things are too wonderful for me, yes, four I cannot understand:
30:19 The way of an eagle in the air, the way of a serpent upon a rock, The way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a maiden.
30:20 Such is the way of an adulterous woman: she eats, wipes her mouth, and says, "I have done no wrong."
30:21 Under three things the earth trembles, yes, under four it cannot bear up:
30:22 Under a slave when he becomes king, and a fool when he is glutted with food;
30:23 Under an odious woman when she is wed, and a maidservant when she displaces her mistress.
30:24 Four things are among the smallest on the earth, and yet are exceedingly wise:
30:25 Ants ?a species not strong, yet they store up their food in the summer;
30:26 Rock-badgers ?a species not mighty, yet they make their home in the crags;
30:27 Locusts ?they have no king, yet they migrate all in array;
30:28 Lizards ?you can catch them with your hands, yet they find their way into king’s palaces.
30:29 Three things are stately in their stride, yes, four are stately in their carriage:
30:30 The lion, mightiest of beasts, who retreats before nothing;
30:31 The strutting cock, and the he-goat, and the king at the head of his people.
30:32 If you have foolishly been proud or presumptuous ?put your hand on your mouth;
30:33 For the stirring of milk brings forth curds, and the stirring of anger brings forth blood.