Proverbs 30
Common English Bible
Words of Agur
30 The words of Agur, Jakeh’s son, from Massa.
The man declares: I’m tired, God;
I’m tired, God, and I’m exhausted.
2 Actually, I’m too stupid to be human,
a man without understanding.
3 I haven’t learned wisdom,
nor do I have knowledge of the holy one.
4 Who has gone up to heaven and come down?
Who has gathered the wind by the handful?
Who has bound up the waters in a garment?
Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is this person’s name and the name of this person’s child—
if you know it?
5 All God’s words are tried and true;
a shield for those who take refuge in him.
6 Don’t add to his words,
or he will correct you and show you to be a liar.
7 Two things I ask of you;
don’t keep them from me before I die:
8 Fraud and lies—
keep far from me!
Don’t give me either poverty or wealth;
give me just the food I need.
9 Or I’ll be full and deny you,
and say, “Who is the Lord?”
Or I’ll be poor and steal,
and dishonor my God’s name.
More sayings of the wise
10 Don’t slander a servant to his master;
otherwise, the servant will curse you, and you will be guilty.
11 There are those who curse their father
and don’t bless their mother.
12 There are those who think they are clean,
but haven’t washed off their own excrement.
13 There are those—
how arrogant are their eyes;
how their eyebrows are raised!
14 There are those whose teeth are swords;
their jaw is a butcher’s knife,
ready to devour the needy from the earth,
and the poor from humanity.
15 The leech has two daughters: “Give, give!”
There are three things that are never satisfied,
four that never say, “Enough!”:
16 the grave[a] and a barren womb,
a land never filled with water,
and fire that doesn’t say, “Enough!”
17 An eye that mocks a father
and rejects obedience to a mother,
may the ravens of the river valley peck it out,
and the eagle’s young eat it.
18 Three things are too wonderful for me,
four that I can’t figure out:
19 the way of an eagle in the sky,
the way of a snake on the rock,
the way of a ship out on the open sea,
and the way of a man with a young woman.
20 This is the way of an adulterous woman:
she eats and wipes her mouth,
and she says, “I’ve done nothing wrong!”
21 At three things the earth trembles,
at four it can’t bear up:
22 at a servant when he becomes king
and fools when they are full of food;
23 at a detested woman when she gets married
and a female servant when she replaces her mistress.
24 Four things are among the smallest on earth,
but they are extremely wise:
25 Ants as creatures aren’t strong,
but they store away their food in the summer.
26 Badgers as creatures aren’t powerful,
but they make their homes in the rocks.
27 Locusts don’t have a king,
but they march together in ranks.
28 You can catch lizards in your hand,
but they are in kings’ palaces.
29 There are three things that are excellent in their stride,
four that are excellent as they walk:
30 a lion, a warrior among beasts,
which doesn’t back down at anything;
31 the strut of a rooster or a male goat;
and a king with his army.
32 If you’ve been foolish and arrogant,
if you’ve been scheming,
put your hand to your mouth,
33 because churning milk makes curds,
squeezing the nose brings blood,
and stirring up anger produces strife.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 30:16 Heb Sheol
Proverbs 30
Contemporary English Version
The Sayings of Agur
30 These are the sayings
and the message
of Agur son of Jakeh.
Someone cries out to God,
“I am completely worn out!
How can I last?[a]
2 I am far too stupid
to be considered human.
3 I never was wise,
and I don't understand
what God is like.”
4 (A) Has anyone gone up to heaven
and come back down?
Has anyone grabbed hold
of the wind?
Has anyone wrapped up the sea
or marked out boundaries
for the earth?
If you know of any
who have done such things,
then tell me their names
and their children's names.
5 Everything God says is true—
and it's a shield for all
who come to him for safety.
6 Don't change what God has said!
He will correct you and show
that you are a liar.
7 There are two things, Lord,
I want you to do for me
before I die:
8 Make me absolutely honest
and don't let me be too poor
or too rich.
Give me just what I need.
9 If I have too much to eat,
I might forget about you;
if I don't have enough,
I might steal
and disgrace your name.
10 Don't tell a slave owner
something bad about one
of the slaves.
That slave will curse you,
and you will be in trouble.
11 Some people curse their father
and even their mother;
12 others think they are perfect,
but they are stained by sin.
13 Some people are stuck-up
and act like snobs;
14 others are so greedy
that they gobble up
the poor and homeless.
15 Greed[b] has twins,
each named “Give me!”
There are three or four things
that are never satisfied:
16 The world of the dead
and a childless wife,
the thirsty earth
and a flaming fire.
17 Don't make fun of your father
or disobey your mother—
crows will peck out your eyes,
and buzzards will eat
the rest of you.
18 There are three or four things
I cannot understand:
19 (B) How eagles fly so high
or snakes crawl on rocks,
how ships sail the ocean
or people fall in love.
20 An unfaithful wife says,
“Sleeping with another man
is as natural as eating.”
21 There are three or four things
that make the earth tremble
and are unbearable:
22 A slave who becomes king,
a fool who eats too much,
23 a hateful woman
who finds a husband,
and a slave who takes the place
of the woman who owns her.
24 On this earth four things
are small but very wise:
25 Ants, who seem to be feeble,
but store up food
all summer long;
26 badgers, who seem to be weak,
but live among the rocks;
27 locusts, who have no king,
but march like an army;
28 lizards,[c] which can be caught
in your hand,
but sneak into palaces.
29 Three or four creatures
really strut around:
30 Those fearless lions
who rule the jungle,
31 those proud roosters,
those mountain goats,
and those rulers
who have no enemies.[d]
32 If you are foolishly bragging
or planning something evil,
then stop it now!
33 If you churn milk
you get butter;
if you pound on your nose,
you get blood—
and if you stay angry,
you get in trouble.
Proverbs 30
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
VII. Sayings of Agur and Others
Chapter 30
1 [a]The words of Agur, son of Jakeh the Massaite:
The pronouncement of mortal man: “I am weary, O God;
I am weary, O God, and I am exhausted.
2 I am more brute than human being,
without even human intelligence;
3 [b]Neither have I learned wisdom,
nor have I the knowledge of the Holy One.
4 Who has gone up to heaven and come down again—
who has cupped the wind in the hollow of the hand?
Who has bound up the waters in a cloak—
who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is that person’s name, or the name of his son?”[c]
5 [d]Every word of God is tested;(A)
he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
6 Add nothing to his words,(B)
lest he reprimand you, and you be proved a liar.
7 [e]Two things I ask of you,
do not deny them to me before I die:
8 Put falsehood and lying far from me,
give me neither poverty nor riches;
provide me only with the food I need;
9 Lest, being full, I deny you,
saying, “Who is the Lord?”
Or, being in want, I steal,
and profane the name of my God.
10 Do not criticize servants to their master,
lest they curse you, and you have to pay the penalty.
11 [f]There are some who curse their fathers,
and do not bless their mothers.(C)
12 There are some pure in their own eyes,
yet not cleansed of their filth.
13 There are some—how haughty their eyes!
how overbearing their glance!
14 There are some—their teeth are swords,
their teeth are knives,
Devouring the needy from the earth,
and the poor from the human race.
15 [g]The leech has two daughters:
“Give,” and “Give.”
Three things never get their fill,
four never say, “Enough!”
16 Sheol, a barren womb,(D)
land that never gets its fill of water,
and fire, which never says, “Enough!”
17 The eye that mocks a father,
or scorns the homage due a mother,
Will be plucked out by brook ravens;
devoured by a brood of vultures.
18 [h]Three things are too wonderful for me,
yes, four I cannot understand:
19 The way of an eagle in the sky,
the way of a serpent upon a rock,
The way of a ship on the high seas,
and the way of a man with a woman.
20 This is the way of an adulterous woman:
she eats, wipes her mouth,
and says, “I have done no wrong.”[i]
21 [j]Under three things the earth trembles,
yes, under four it cannot bear up:
22 Under a slave who becomes king,
and a fool who is glutted with food;(E)
23 Under an unloved woman who is wed,
and a maidservant who displaces her mistress.
24 [k]Four things are among the smallest on the earth,
and yet are exceedingly wise:
25 Ants—a species not strong,
yet they store up their food in the summer;
26 Badgers—a species not mighty,
yet they make their home in the crags;
27 Locusts—they have no king,
yet they march forth in formation;
28 Lizards—you can catch them with your hands,
yet they find their way into kings’ palaces.
29 [l]Three things are stately in their stride,
yes, four are stately in their carriage:
30 The lion, mightiest of beasts,
retreats before nothing;
31 The strutting cock, and the he-goat,
and the king at the head of his people.
32 [m]If you have foolishly been proud
or presumptuous—put your hand on your mouth;
33 For as the churning of milk produces curds,
and the pressing of the nose produces blood,
the churning of anger produces strife.
Footnotes
- 30:1–6 Scholars are divided on the original literary unit. Is it vv. 1–3, 1–4, 1–5, or 1–6? The unit is probably vv. 1–6, for a single contrast dominates: human fragility (and ignorance) and divine power (and knowledge). A similar contrast is found in Jb 28; Ps 73; Is 49:1–4. The language of self-abasement is hyperbolic; cf. 2 Sm 9:8; Ps 73:21–22; Jb 25:4–6. Agur: an unknown person. Massaite: from Massa in northern Arabia, elsewhere referred to as an encampment of the Ishmaelites (Gn 25:14). But Heb. massa may not be intended as a place name; it might signify “an oracle,” “a prophecy,” as in Is 15:1; 17:1; etc.
- 30:3–4 Agur denies he has secret heavenly knowledge. The purpose of the denial is to underline that God directly gives wisdom to those whose conduct pleases him.
- 30:4 The Hebrew text has the phrase “do you know?” at the end of v. 4, which is supported by the versions. The phrase, however, does not appear in the important Greek manuscripts Vaticanus and Sinaiticus and spoils the sense, for Agur, not God, is the questioner. The phrase seems to be an addition to the Hebrew text, borrowed from Job 38:5, where it also follows a cosmic question.
- 30:5–6 Verse 5, like the confession of the king in Ps 18:31 (and its parallel, 2 Sm 22:31), expresses total confidence in the one who rescues from death. Agur has refused a word from any other except God and makes an act of trust in God.
- 30:7–9 A prayer against lying words and for sufficiency of goods, lest reaction to riches or destitution lead to offenses against God.
- 30:11–14 Perverted people are here classified as unfilial (v. 11), self-righteous (v. 12), proud (v. 13) and rapacious (v. 14).
- 30:15–16 Here begins a series of numerical sayings; the pattern is n, n + 1. The slight variation in number (two and three, three and four) is an example of parallelism applied to numbers. The poetic technique is attested even outside the Bible. Two daughters: “Give,” and “Give”: the text is obscure; as the leech (a bloodsucking worm) is insatiable in its desire for blood (v. 15), so are the nether world for victims, the barren womb for offspring, the earth for water, and fire for fuel (v. 16). Sheol: here not so much the place of the dead as a force (death) that eventually draws all the living into it; cf. 27:20; Is 5:14; Hb 2:5. Land…fire: land (especially the dry land of Palestine) always absorbs more water; fire always requires more fuel.
- 30:18–19 The soaring flight of the eagle, the mysterious movement upon a rock of the serpent which has no feet, the path of the ship through the trackless deep, and the marvelous attraction between the sexes; there is a mysterious way common to them all.
- 30:20 This verse portrays the indifference of an adulterous woman who casually dismisses her guilt because it cannot be traced.
- 30:21–23 Shaking heavens are part of general cosmic upheaval in Is 14:16; Jl 2:10; Am 8:8; Jb 9:6. Disturbances in nature mirror the disturbance of unworthy people attaining what they do not deserve. Glutted with food: someone unworthy ends up with the fulfillment that befits a wise person. Unloved woman: an older woman who, contrary to expectation, finds a husband.
- 30:24–28 The creatures may be small, but they are wise in knowing how to govern themselves—the definition of wisdom. Badgers: the rock badger is able to live on rocky heights that provide security from its enemies. Locusts: though vulnerable individually their huge swarms are impossible to deflect.
- 30:29–31 Four beings with an imperiousness visible in their walk. Only the lion is described in detail; the reader is expected to transpose its qualities to the others.
- 30:32–33 The same Hebrew verb, “to churn, shake,” is applied to milk, the nose (sometimes a symbol of anger), and wrath. In each case something is eventually produced by the constant agitation. The wise make peace and avoid strife, for strife eventually harms those who provoke it.
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