The man declares to Ithiel,
    to Ithiel and Ukal:

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 has ascended up into heaven, or descended?
    Who has gathered the wind in his fists?
Who has bound the waters in a garment?
    Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is His name, and what is the name of His son,
    if you know?

⁵ Every word of God is pure;
    He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.
⁶ Do not add to His words,
    lest He reprove you, and you be found a liar.

⁷ Two things I have required of you;
    do not deny me them before I die:
⁸ Remove vanity and lies far from me—
    give me neither poverty nor riches;
    feed me with food convenient for me;
⁹ lest I be full, and deny You,
    and say, “Who is the Lord?”
or lest I be poor, and steal,
    and take the name of my God in vain.

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

¹¹ There is a generation that curses their father,
    and does not bless its mother.
¹² There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes,
    and yet is not washed from its filthiness.
¹³ There is a generation—oh, 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 leech has two daughters,
    crying, “Give, give.”

There are three things that are never satisfied,
    indeed, four things never say, “It is enough”:
¹⁶ the grave, the barren womb,
    the earth that is not filled with water,
    and the fire that never says, “It is enough.”

¹⁷ The eye that mocks at his father,
    and despises to obey his mother,
the ravens of the valley will pick it out,
    and the young eagles will eat it.

¹⁸ There are three things which are too wonderful for me,
    indeed, four which I do not know:
¹⁹ the way of an eagle in the air,
    the way of a serpent on 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 eats and wipes her mouth,
    and says, “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 reigns,
    and a fool when he is filled with food,
²³ for a hateful woman when she is married,
    and a handmaid who is heir to her mistress.

²⁴ There are 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 food in the summer;
²⁶ the badgers are but a feeble folk,
    yet they make their houses in the rocks;
²⁷ the locusts have no king,
    yet they go forth all of them by bands;
²⁸ the spider takes hold with her hands,
    and is in kings’ palaces.

²⁹ There are three things which go well,
    indeed, four are comely in going:
³⁰ a lion which is strongest among beasts,
    and does not turn away for any;
³¹ a strutting rooster, a male goat also,
    and a king, against whom there is no rising up.

³² If you have been foolish in lifting up yourself,
    or if you have thought evil,
    put your hand on your mouth.
³³ Surely the churning of milk brings forth butter,
    and the wringing of the nose brings forth blood,
    so the forcing of wrath brings forth strife.