Proverbs 30 - Ecclesiastes 1
English Standard Version
The Words of Agur
30 The words of Agur son of Jakeh. The oracle.[a]
The man declares, I am weary, O God;
I am weary, O God, and worn out.[b]
2 Surely I am too (A)stupid to be a man.
I have not the understanding of a man.
3 I have not learned wisdom,
nor have I knowledge of (B)the Holy One.
4 Who has (C)ascended to heaven and come down?
Who has (D)gathered the wind in his fists?
Who has (E)wrapped up the waters in a garment?
Who has established all (F)the ends of the earth?
(G)What is his name, and what is his son's name?
Surely you know!
5 (H)Every word of God proves true;
he is (I)a shield to those who take refuge in him.
6 (J)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 (K)before I die:
8 Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with the food that is (L)needful for me,
9 lest I be (M)full and (N)deny you
and say, (O)“Who is the Lord?”
or lest I be poor and steal
(P)and profane the name of my God.
11 There are those[c] who (S)curse their fathers
and do not bless their mothers.
12 There are those who are (T)clean in their own eyes
but are not washed of their filth.
13 There are those—how (U)lofty are their eyes,
how high their eyelids lift!
14 There are those whose teeth are (V)swords,
whose (W)fangs are knives,
to (X)devour the poor from off the earth,
the needy from among mankind.
15 The leech has two daughters:
Give and Give.[d]
(Y)Three things are never satisfied;
(Z)four never say, “Enough”:
16 (AA)Sheol, (AB)the barren womb,
the land never satisfied with water,
and the fire that never says, “Enough.”
17 The eye that (AC)mocks a father
and (AD)scorns to obey a mother
will (AE)be picked out by (AF)the ravens of the valley
and eaten by the vultures.
18 (AG)Three things are (AH)too wonderful for me;
(AI)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.
20 This is the way of an adulteress:
she eats and wipes her mouth
and says, “I have done no wrong.”
21 Under (AJ)three things (AK)the earth trembles;
under (AL)four it cannot bear up:
22 (AM)a slave when he becomes king,
and a fool when he is (AN)filled with food;
23 (AO)an unloved woman when she (AP)gets a husband,
and a maidservant when she displaces her mistress.
24 (AQ)Four things on earth are small,
but they are exceedingly wise:
25 (AR)the ants are a people not strong,
yet they provide their food in the summer;
26 (AS)the rock badgers are a people not mighty,
yet they make their homes in the cliffs;
27 the locusts have no (AT)king,
yet all of them march in (AU)rank;
28 the lizard you can take in your hands,
yet it is in kings' palaces.
29 (AV)Three things are stately in their tread;
(AW)four are stately in their stride:
30 the lion, which is mightiest among beasts
and (AX)does not turn back before any;
31 the (AY)strutting rooster,[e] the he-goat,
and a king whose army is with him.[f]
32 If you have been foolish, exalting yourself,
or if you have been devising evil,
(AZ)put your hand on your mouth.
33 For pressing milk produces curds,
pressing the nose produces blood,
and pressing anger produces strife.
The Words of King Lemuel
31 The words of King Lemuel. An oracle that his mother taught him:
2 What are you doing, my son?[g] What are you doing, (BA)son of my womb?
What are you doing, (BB)son of my vows?
3 Do (BC)not give your strength to women,
your ways to those (BD)who destroy kings.
4 (BE)It is not for kings, O Lemuel,
it is not for kings (BF)to drink wine,
or for rulers to take (BG)strong drink,
5 lest they drink and forget what has been decreed
and (BH)pervert the rights of all the afflicted.
6 Give strong drink to the one who (BI)is perishing,
and wine to (BJ)those in bitter distress;[h]
7 (BK)let them drink and forget their poverty
and remember their misery no more.
8 (BL)Open your mouth for the mute,
for the rights of all who are destitute.[i]
9 Open your mouth, (BM)judge righteously,
(BN)defend the rights of (BO)the poor and needy.
The Woman Who Fears the Lord
10 [j] (BP)An excellent wife who can find?
She is far more precious than (BQ)jewels.
11 The heart of her husband trusts in her,
and he will have no lack of gain.
12 She does him good, and not harm,
all the days of her life.
13 She (BR)seeks wool and flax,
and works with willing hands.
14 She is like the ships of the merchant;
she brings her food from afar.
15 She (BS)rises while it is yet night
and (BT)provides food for her household
and portions for her maidens.
16 She considers a field and buys it;
with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.
17 She (BU)dresses herself[k] with strength
and makes her arms strong.
18 She perceives that her merchandise is profitable.
Her lamp does not go out at night.
19 She puts her hands to the distaff,
and her hands hold the spindle.
20 She (BV)opens her hand to (BW)the poor
and reaches out her hands to (BX)the needy.
21 She is not afraid of snow for her household,
for all her household are clothed in (BY)scarlet.[l]
22 She makes (BZ)bed coverings for herself;
her clothing is (CA)fine linen and (CB)purple.
23 Her husband is known in (CC)the gates
when he sits among the elders of the land.
24 She makes (CD)linen garments and sells them;
she delivers sashes to the merchant.
25 (CE)Strength and dignity are her clothing,
and she laughs at the time to come.
26 She opens her mouth with wisdom,
and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
27 She looks well to the ways of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children rise up and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
29 “Many (CF)women have done (CG)excellently,
but you surpass them all.”
30 (CH)Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
31 Give her of the fruit of her hands,
and let her works praise her in the gates.
All Is Vanity
1 The words of (CI)the Preacher,[m] the son of David, (CJ)king in Jerusalem.
2 (CK)Vanity[n] of vanities, says (CL)the Preacher,
(CM)vanity of vanities! (CN)All is vanity.
3 (CO)What (CP)does man gain by all the toil
at which he toils under the sun?
4 A generation goes, and a generation comes,
but (CQ)the earth remains forever.
5 (CR)The sun rises, and the sun goes down,
and hastens[o] to the place where it rises.
6 (CS)The wind blows to the south
and goes around to the north;
around and around goes the wind,
and on its circuits the wind returns.
7 All (CT)streams run to the sea,
but the sea is not full;
to the place where the streams flow,
there they flow again.
8 All things are full of weariness;
a man cannot utter it;
(CU)the eye is not satisfied with seeing,
nor the ear filled with hearing.
9 (CV)What has been is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done,
and there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there a thing of which it is said,
“See, this is new”?
It has been (CW)already
in the ages before us.
11 There is no (CX)remembrance of former things,[p]
nor will there be any remembrance
of later things[q] yet to be
among those who come after.
The Vanity of Wisdom
12 I (CY)the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 And I (CZ)applied my heart[r] to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy (DA)business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. 14 I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is (DB)vanity[s] and a striving after wind.[t]
15 (DC)What is crooked cannot be made straight,
and what is lacking cannot be counted.
16 I said in my heart, “I have acquired great (DD)wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.” 17 And I (DE)applied my heart to know wisdom and to know (DF)madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but (DG)a striving after wind.
18 For (DH)in much wisdom is much vexation,
and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 30:1 Or Jakeh, the man of Massa
- Proverbs 30:1 Revocalization; Hebrew The man declares to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal
- Proverbs 30:11 Hebrew There is a generation; also verses 12, 13, 14
- Proverbs 30:15 Or “Give, give,” they cry
- Proverbs 30:31 Or the magpie, or the greyhound; Hebrew girt-of-loins
- Proverbs 30:31 Or against whom there is no rising up
- Proverbs 31:2 Hebrew What, my son?
- Proverbs 31:6 Hebrew those bitter in soul
- Proverbs 31:8 Hebrew are sons of passing away
- Proverbs 31:10 Verses 10–31 are an acrostic poem, each verse beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet
- Proverbs 31:17 Hebrew She girds her loins
- Proverbs 31:21 Or in double thickness
- Ecclesiastes 1:1 Or Convener, or Collector; Hebrew Qoheleth (so throughout Ecclesiastes)
- Ecclesiastes 1:2 The Hebrew term hebel, translated vanity or vain, refers concretely to a “mist,” “vapor,” or “mere breath,” and metaphorically to something that is fleeting or elusive (with different nuances depending on the context). It appears five times in this verse and in 29 other verses in Ecclesiastes
- Ecclesiastes 1:5 Or and returns panting
- Ecclesiastes 1:11 Or former people
- Ecclesiastes 1:11 Or later people
- Ecclesiastes 1:13 The Hebrew term denotes the center of one's inner life, including mind, will, and emotions
- Ecclesiastes 1:14 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2)
- Ecclesiastes 1:14 Or a feeding on wind; compare Hosea 12:1 (also in Ecclesiastes 1:17; 2:11, 17, 26; 4:4, 6, 16; 6:9)
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
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