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

Two things I ask of you;
    deny them not to me (D)before I die:
Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
    give me neither poverty nor riches;
    feed me with the food that is (E)needful for me,
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.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 30:11 Hebrew There is a generation; also verses 12, 13, 14
  2. Proverbs 30:15 Or “Give, give,” they cry

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