Proverbs - The Old Testament

¹ The sayings of Agur son of Jakeh, of Massa. Prophecy of this man for Ithiel, for Ithiel and for Ucal.

² I am myself the stupidest of people, bereft of human intelligence,

³ I have not learnt wisdom, and I lack the knowledge of the holy ones.

⁴ Who has mounted to the heavens, then come down again? Who has gathered the wind in the clasp of his hand? Who has wrapped the waters in his cloak? Who has set all the ends of the earth firm? What is his name? What is his child's name? Do you know?

⁵ Every word of God is unalloyed, a shield to those who take refuge in him.

⁶ To his words make no addition, lest he reprove you and account you a liar.

⁷ Two things I beg of you, do not grudge me them before I die:

⁸ keep falsehood and lies far from me, give me neither poverty nor riches, grant me only my share of food,

⁹ for fear that, surrounded by plenty, I should fall away and say, 'Yahweh-who is Yahweh?' or else, in destitution, take to stealing and profane the name of my God.

¹⁰ Do not blacken a slave's name to his master, lest he curse you, and you suffer for it.

¹¹ There is a breed of person that curses his father and does not bless his mother;

¹² a breed that, laying claim to purity, has not yet been cleansed of its filth;

¹³ a breed haughty of eye, with disdain in every glance;

¹⁴ a breed with swords for teeth, with knives for jaws, devouring the oppressed from the earth and the needy from the land.

¹⁵ The leech has two daughters: 'Give! Give!' There are three insatiable things, four, indeed, that never say, 'Enough!'

¹⁶ Sheol, the barren womb, earth which can never have its fill of water, fire which never says, 'Enough!'

¹⁷ The eye which looks jeeringly on a father, and scorns the obedience due to a mother, will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley, and eaten by the vultures.

¹⁸ There are three things beyond my comprehension, four, indeed, that I do not understand:

¹⁹ the way of an eagle through the skies, the way of a snake over the rock, the way of a ship in mid-ocean, the way of a man with a girl.

²⁰ This is how an adulteress behaves: she eats, then wipes her mouth and says, 'I have done nothing wrong!'

²¹ There are three things at which the earth trembles, four, indeed, which it cannot endure:

²² a slave become king, a brute gorged with food,

²³ a hateful woman wed at last, a servant girl inheriting from her mistress.

²⁴ There are four creatures little on the earth, though they are wisest of the wise:

²⁵ ants, a race with no strength, yet in the summer they make sure of their food;

²⁶ the coneys, a race without defences, yet they make their home in the rocks;

²⁷ locusts, which have no king, yet they all march in good order;

²⁸ lizards, which you can catch in your hand, yet they frequent the palaces of kings.

²⁹ There are three things of stately tread, four, indeed, of stately walk:

³⁰ the lion, bravest of beasts, he will draw back from nothing;

³¹ a vigorous cock, a he-goat, and the king when he harangues his people.

³² If you have been foolish enough to fly into a passion and now have second thoughts, lay your hand on your lips.

³³ For by churning the milk you produce butter, by wringing the nose you produce blood, and by whipping up anger you produce strife.