Proverbs 30:5-19

English Standard Version

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

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

^10 (J)Do not slander a servant to his master,
    ^(K)lest he curse you, and you be held guilty.

¹¹ There are those^[a] who ^(L)curse their fathers
    and do not bless their mothers.
¹² There are those who are ^(M)clean in their own eyes
    but are not washed of their filth.
¹³ There are those—how ^(N)lofty are their eyes,
    how high their eyelids lift!
¹⁴ There are those whose teeth are ^(O)swords,
    whose ^(P)fangs are knives,
to ^(Q)devour the poor from off the earth,
    the needy from among mankind.

¹⁵ The leech has two daughters:
    Give and Give.^[b]
(R)Three things are never satisfied;
    ^(S)four never say, “Enough”:
^16 (T)Sheol, ^(U)the barren womb,
    the land never satisfied with water,
    and the fire that never says, “Enough.”

¹⁷ The eye that ^(V)mocks a father
    and ^(W)scorns to obey a mother
will ^(X)be picked out by ^(Y)the ravens of the valley
    and eaten by the vultures.

^18 (Z)Three things are ^(AA)too wonderful for me;
    ^(AB)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 virgin.