Proverbs 30

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

The man says to Ith′i-el,
    to Ith′i-el and Ucal:^[b]
2 Surely I am too stupid to be a man.
    I have not the understanding of a man.
³ I have not learned wisdom,
    nor have I knowledge of the Holy One.
⁴ Who has ascended to heaven and come down?
    Who has gathered the wind in his fists?
Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment?
    Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is his name, and what is his son’s name?
    Surely you know!

⁵ Every word of God proves true;
    he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
⁶ Do not add to his words,
    lest he rebuke you, and you be found a liar.

⁷ Two things I ask of thee;
    deny them not to me before I die:
⁸ Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
    give me neither poverty nor riches;
    feed me with the food that is needful for me,
⁹ lest I be full, and deny thee,
    and say, “Who is the Lord?”
or lest I be poor, and steal,
    and profane the name of my God.

¹⁰ Do not slander a servant to his master,
    lest he curse you, and you be held guilty.

¹¹ There are those who curse their fathers
    and do not bless their mothers.
¹² There are those who are pure in their own eyes
    but are not cleansed of their filth.
¹³ There are those—how lofty are their eyes,
    how high their eyelids lift!
¹⁴ There are those whose teeth are swords,
    whose teeth are knives,
to devour the poor from off the earth,
    the needy from among men.

¹⁵ The leech^[c] has two daughters;
    “Give, give,” they cry.
Three things are never satisfied;
    four never say, “Enough”:
¹⁶ Sheol, the barren womb,
    the earth ever thirsty for water,
    and the fire which never says, “Enough.”^[d]

¹⁷ The eye that mocks a father
    and scorns to obey a mother
will be picked out by the ravens of the valley
    and eaten by the vultures.

¹⁸ Three things are too wonderful for me;
    four I do not understand:
¹⁹ the way of an eagle in the sky,
    the way of a serpent on a rock,
the way of a ship on the high seas,
    and the way of a man with a maiden.

²⁰ This is the way of an adulteress:
    she eats, and wipes her mouth,
    and says, “I have done no wrong.”

²¹ Under three things the earth trembles;
    under four it cannot bear up:
²² a slave when he becomes king,
    and a fool when he is filled with food;
²³ an unloved woman when she gets a husband,
    and a maid when she succeeds her mistress.

²⁴ Four things on earth are small,
    but they are exceedingly wise:
²⁵ the ants are a people not strong,
    yet they provide their food in the summer;
²⁶ the badgers are a people not mighty,
    yet they make their homes in the rocks;
²⁷ the locusts have no king,
    yet all of them march in rank;
²⁸ the lizard you can take in your hands,
    yet it is in kings’ palaces.

²⁹ Three things are stately in their tread;
    four are stately in their stride:
³⁰ the lion, which is mightiest among beasts
    and does not turn back before any;
³¹ the strutting cock,^[e] the he-goat,
    and a king striding before^[f] his people.

³² If you have been foolish, exalting yourself,
    or if you have been devising evil,
    put your hand on your mouth.
³³ For pressing milk produces curds,
    pressing the nose produces blood,
    and pressing anger produces strife.