Proverbs 30:18-33

English Standard Version

^18 (A)Three things are ^(B)too wonderful for me;
    ^(C)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 ^(D)three things ^(E)the earth trembles;
    under ^(F)four it cannot bear up:
^22 (G)a slave when he becomes king,
    and a fool when he is ^(H)filled with food;
^23 (I)an unloved woman when she ^(J)gets a husband,
    and a maidservant when she displaces her mistress.

^24 (K)Four things on earth are small,
    but they are exceedingly wise:
^25 (L)the ants are a people not strong,
    yet they provide their food in the summer;
^26 (M)the rock badgers are a people not mighty,
    yet they make their homes in the cliffs;
²⁷ the locusts have no ^(N)king,
    yet all of them march in ^(O)rank;
²⁸ the lizard you can take in your hands,
    yet it is in kings' palaces.

^29 (P)Three things are stately in their tread;
    ^(Q)four are stately in their stride:
³⁰ the lion, which is mightiest among beasts
    and ^(R)does not turn back before any;
³¹ the ^(S)strutting rooster,^[a] the he-goat,
    and a king whose army is with him.^[b]

³² If you have been foolish, exalting yourself,
    or if you have been devising evil,
    ^(T)put your hand on your mouth.
³³ For pressing milk produces curds,
    pressing the nose produces blood,
    and pressing anger produces strife.