Proverbs 30
EasyEnglish Bible
The wise words of Agur
30 These are the words of Jakeh's son, Agur. It is an important message. The man says this to Ithiel:
God, I am weak and tired. I cannot continue to stand.
2 I feel more stupid than any other person. I do not understand things as other people do.
3 I have never learned wisdom. I do not know anything about God, the Holy One.
4 No one has gone up to heaven and then come back. No one has held the wind in his hands. No one has tied his coat around the seas. No one has fixed the borders of the earth. If anyone has done this, tell me his name. Tell me his son's name. Tell me, if you know.
5 Everything that God says is completely true. If you trust him, he will protect you like a soldier's shield.
6 Do not add anything to what God has said. If you do that, he will warn you. He will show that you are someone who tells lies.
7 God, I ask you to do two things for me. Please do them before I die:
8 Do not let me ever deceive people with lies.
Do not let me be too rich or too poor. Give me only as much food as I need each day.
9 If I have more than enough, I might say that I do not know you. I might say, ‘Who is the Lord?’
But if I am poor, I might rob people. That would insult my God's good name.
10 Do not say bad things about a servant to his master. If you do, the servant may curse you, and then you will be guilty.
11 There are some people who curse their fathers. They do not bless their mothers.
12 There are some people who think that they are perfect. But they are still dirty inside.
13 There are some people who are very proud. They look down on everyone else.
14 There are some people who are very cruel. Their teeth are like swords and sharp knives. They want to eat up all the poor and helpless people, so that they disappear from the earth.
15 A greedy leech has two daughters.[a] They are always saying, ‘Give me more!’
There are three things that never have enough for themselves, even four things:
16 The deep hole of death.
A wife who has no children.
Dry ground that needs rain.
A fire that burns strongly.
17 Punishment will come to anyone who insults his father, or who refuses to listen to his mother. Wild birds will pick out his eyes and vultures will eat his body.
18 There are three things that are too difficult for me to understand, even four things:
19 How an eagle flies high in the sky.
How a snake moves across a rock.
How a ship sails on the sea.
How a man starts to love a young woman.
20 A woman who is not faithful to her husband does this: When she has sex with another man, she thinks it is like a meal that she has eaten. Then she washes herself and she says, ‘I have not done anything wrong.’ That is something else that I cannot understand.
21 There are three things that make the earth shake, even four things:
22 A slave who becomes a king.
A fool who eats too much.
23 A woman that nobody loves who marries a husband.
A female servant who takes the place of the woman that she has served.
24 There are four things that live on the earth which are very small, but they are also very wise:
25 Ants are not very strong, but they prepare their food in the summer.
26 Rock badgers are weak animals, but they make their homes among the rocks.
27 Locusts have no king to lead them, but they all fly together as one.
28 Lizards are easy to catch with your hand, but you will see them in kings' palaces.
29 There are three things that seem great as they walk around, even four things:
30 Lions are the strongest of all animals, and they are not afraid of anything.
31 Cockerels that shout proudly.
Male goats.
A king who has his army with him.
32 You may be foolish and too proud of yourself. You may have ideas to do evil things. If that is true, stop yourself! Do not say a word! 33 If you beat milk for a long time, it will become butter. If you hit someone's nose, it will bleed. In the same way, if you make people angry, it will cause trouble.
Footnotes
- 30:15 A leech is a little animal that drinks blood.
Proverbs 30
King James Version
30 The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, even the prophecy: the man spake unto Ithiel, even unto Ithiel and Ucal,
2 Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man.
3 I neither learned wisdom, nor have the knowledge of the holy.
4 Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou canst tell?
5 Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.
6 Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.
7 Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die:
8 Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me:
9 Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.
10 Accuse not a servant unto his master, lest he curse thee, and thou be found guilty.
11 There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother.
12 There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.
13 There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up.
14 There is a generation, whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men.
15 The horseleach hath two daughters, crying, Give, give. There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say not, It is enough:
16 The grave; and the barren womb; the earth that is not filled with water; and the fire that saith not, It is enough.
17 The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it.
18 There be three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not:
19 The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maid.
20 Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.
21 For three things the earth is disquieted, and for four which it cannot bear:
22 For a servant when he reigneth; and a fool when he is filled with meat;
23 For an odious woman when she is married; and an handmaid that is heir to her mistress.
24 There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise:
25 The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer;
26 The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks;
27 The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands;
28 The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings' palaces.
29 There be three things which go well, yea, four are comely in going:
30 A lion which is strongest among beasts, and turneth not away for any;
31 A greyhound; an he goat also; and a king, against whom there is no rising up.
32 If thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself, or if thou hast thought evil, lay thine hand upon thy mouth.
33 Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth butter, and the wringing of the nose bringeth forth blood: so the forcing of wrath bringeth forth strife.
Proverbes 30
Segond 21
Proverbes d'Agur 30.1-33
La relation avec Dieu
30 Paroles d'Agur, fils de Jaké. Message[a] prononcé par cet homme pour Ithiel et pour Ucal.
2 Certes, je suis idiot plus que tout autre
et je n'ai pas l'intelligence d'un homme,
3 je n'ai pas appris la sagesse
et je n'ai pas la connaissance du Saint[b].
4 Qui est monté au ciel et qui en est descendu?
Qui a rassemblé le vent dans le creux de ses mains?
Qui a serré l’eau dans son manteau?
Qui a fixé les limites de la terre?
Quel est son nom et quel est le nom de son fils?
Le sais-tu?
5 Toute parole de Dieu est pure.
Il est un bouclier pour ceux qui cherchent refuge en lui.
6 N'ajoute rien à ses paroles!
Il te reprendrait et tu apparaîtrais comme un menteur.
7 Je te demande deux choses.
Ne me les refuse pas avant que je meure:
8 éloigne de moi la fausseté et le mensonge,
et ne me donne ni pauvreté ni richesse,
mais accorde-moi le pain qui m'est nécessaire!
9 Sinon je risquerais, une fois rassasié, de te renier
et de dire: «Qui est l'Eternel?»
ou, après avoir tout perdu, de voler
et de m'en prendre au nom de mon Dieu.
A propos des catégories
10 Ne dénigre pas un serviteur auprès de son maître,
de peur qu'il ne te maudisse et que tu n’aies à en subir les conséquences.
11 Il existe une génération qui maudit son père
et qui ne bénit pas sa mère,
12 il existe une génération qui se croit pure
et qui n'est pas lavée de sa souillure,
13 il existe une génération aux yeux hautains
et aux paupières insolentes,
14 il existe une génération dont les dents sont des épées
et les mâchoires des couteaux
pour dévorer les plus humbles sur la terre
et les plus pauvres parmi les hommes.
15 La sangsue a deux filles: «Donne! Donne!»
Trois choses sont insatiables,
quatre ne disent jamais «Assez»:
16 le séjour des morts, la femme stérile,
la terre qui n'est pas saturée d'eau,
et le feu qui ne dit jamais «Assez».
17 L'œil qui se moque d'un père
et qui méprise l'obéissance envers une mère,
les corbeaux de la rivière le crèveront
et les petits de l'aigle le mangeront.
18 Il y a trois choses qui sont trop merveilleuses pour moi,
même quatre que je ne parviens pas à connaître:
19 la trace de l'aigle dans le ciel,
la trace du serpent sur le rocher,
la trace du bateau au milieu de la mer
et la trace de l'homme chez la jeune fille.
20 Voici quelle est la conduite de la femme adultère:
elle mange et s'essuie la bouche
avant de dire: «Je n'ai fait aucun mal.»
21 Il y a trois choses qui font trembler la terre,
même quatre qu’elle ne peut pas supporter:
22 un esclave qui devient roi,
un fou qui a de la nourriture à satiété,
23 une femme détestée qui se marie
et une servante qui dépossède sa maîtresse.
24 Il y a sur la terre quatre animaux petits,
et cependant particulièrement sages:
25 les fourmis, peuple sans force,
qui préparent leur nourriture en été;
26 les damans, peuple sans puissance,
qui font leur habitation dans les rochers;
27 les sauterelles, qui n'ont pas de roi
mais sortent toutes en bon ordre;
28 le lézard, que tu peux attraper avec tes mains
et qui se trouve dans les palais des rois.
29 Il y en a trois qui ont une belle allure,
même quatre qui ont une belle démarche:
30 le lion, le plus puissant des animaux,
qui ne recule devant personne,
31 le cheval tout équipé, ou encore le bouc,
et le roi à qui personne ne résiste.
32 Si l'orgueil te pousse à des actes de folie
et si tu as de mauvaises pensées, mets la main sur la bouche!
33 En effet, battre le lait produit du beurre,
frapper le nez produit du sang
et provoquer la colère produit des disputes.
Footnotes
- Proverbes 30:1 Message: ou de Massa, nom d’un royaume ismaélite (cf. Genèse 25.13-14).
- Proverbes 30:3 Du Saint: ou des saints.
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Version Segond 21 Copyright © 2007 Société Biblique de Genève by Société Biblique de Genève