Proverbs 30

The words of Agur son of Jakeh, the oracle. The declaration of the man to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal: Surely I am more senseless than any man, and I lack human understanding. I have not learned wisdom, nor do I have knowledge of the Holy One. Who has ascended to heaven and come down?
Who has gathered the wind in his fists?
Who has wrapped the waters in a garment?
Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is his name, and what is his son’s name, if you know? Every word of God is refined;
he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar. Two things I ask of you;
do not deny them to me before I die: Keep falsehood and lying words far from me;
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with my allotted bread, lest I be full and deny you and say, “Who is the LORD?”
Or lest I become poor and steal and profane the name of my God. Do not slander a servant to his master, lest he curse you and you bear the guilt. There is a generation that curses its father and does not bless its mother. There is a generation pure in its own eyes, yet not washed of its filth. There is a generation—how haughty its eyes, how high its eyelids are raised! There is a generation whose teeth are swords and whose fangs are knives, to devour the poor from the earth and the needy from among mankind. The leech has two daughters: “Give!
Give!”
Three things are never satisfied, four never say, “Enough”: Sheol, the barren womb, land never satisfied with water, and fire that never says, “Enough!” The eye that mocks a father and scorns obedience to a mother will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley and eaten by young eagles. Three things are too wonderful for me, four I do not understand: the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a serpent on a rock, the way of a ship in the heart of the sea, and the way of a man with a young woman. This is the way of an adulterous woman: She eats, wipes her mouth, and says, “I have done no wrong.” Under three things the earth trembles, and under four it cannot bear up: under a servant when he becomes king, and a fool when he has his fill of bread; under an unloved woman when she marries, and a servant girl when she takes the place of her mistress. Four things are small on the earth, yet they are exceedingly wise: the ants are a people without strength, yet they prepare their food in summer; the hyraxes are a people without power, yet they make their home in the rocks; the locusts have no king, yet they all march out in ranks; the lizard can be caught with the hands, yet it is in kings’ palaces. Three things have a stately stride, four walk well: the lion, mighty among beasts, which does not turn back before anything; the one with girded loins, or a male goat, and a king with his troops. If you have been foolish in exalting yourself, or if you have plotted evil, put your hand over your mouth. For churning milk brings forth butter, pressing the nose brings forth blood, and pressing anger brings forth strife.

Rights and attribution