Proverbs 30

Names of God Bible

30 The words of Agur, son of Jakeh. Agur’s prophetic revelation.

    This man’s declaration:
    “I’m weary, O El.
    I’m weary and worn out, O El.
² I’m more like a dumb animal than a human being.
    I don’t even have human understanding.
³ I haven’t learned wisdom.
    I don’t have knowledge of the Holy One.^[a]

⁴ “Who has gone up to heaven and come down?
    Who has gathered the wind in the palm of his hand?
    Who has wrapped water in a garment?
    Who has set up the earth from one end to the other?
    What is his name or the name of his son?
    Certainly, you must know!

⁷ “I’ve asked you for two things.
    Don’t keep them from me before I die:
⁸ Keep vanity and lies far away from me.
    Don’t give me either poverty or riches.
        Feed me only the food I need,
⁹ or I may feel satisfied and deny you
    and say, ‘Who is Yahweh?’
        or I may become poor and steal
            and give the name of my Elohim a bad reputation.

¹⁰ “Do not slander a slave to his master.
    The slave will curse you,
        and you will be found guilty.”

¹¹ A certain kind of person curses his father
    and does not bless his mother.
¹² A certain kind of person thinks he is pure
    but is not washed from his own feces.^[b]
13 A certain kind of person looks around arrogantly
    and is conceited.
¹⁴ A certain kind of person,
    whose teeth are like swords
        and whose jaws are like knives,
            devours oppressed people from the earth
                and people from among humanity.

¹⁵ The bloodsucking leech has two daughters—“Give!” and “Give!”

    Three things are never satisfied.
    Four never say, “Enough!”:
¹⁶ the grave,
    a barren womb,
    a land that never gets enough water,
    a fire that does not say, “Enough!”

¹⁷ The eye that makes fun of a father and hates to obey a mother
    will be plucked out by ravens in the valley and eaten by young vultures.

¹⁸ Three things are too amazing to me,
    even four that I cannot understand:
¹⁹ an eagle making its way through the sky,
    a snake making its way over a rock,
    a ship making its way through high seas,
    a man making his way with a virgin.

²⁰ This is the way of a woman who commits adultery:
    She eats, wipes her mouth,
        and says, “I haven’t done anything wrong!”

²¹ Three things cause the earth to tremble,
    even four it cannot bear up under:
²² a slave when he becomes king,
    a godless fool when he is filled with food,
²³ a woman who is unloved when she gets married,
    a maid when she replaces her mistress.

²⁴ Four things on earth are small,
    yet they are very wise:
²⁵ Ants are not a strong species,
    yet they store their food in summer.
²⁶ Rock badgers are not a mighty species,
    yet they make their home in the rocks.
²⁷ Locusts have no king,
    yet all of them divide into swarms by instinct.
²⁸ A lizard you can hold in your hands,
    yet it can even be found in royal palaces.

²⁹ There are three things that walk with dignity,
    even four that march with dignity:
³⁰ a lion, mightiest among animals, which turns away from nothing,
³¹ a strutting rooster,^[c]
    a male goat,
    a king at the head of his army.^[d]

³² If you are such a godless fool as to honor yourself,
    or if you scheme,
        you had better put your hand over your mouth.
³³ As churning milk produces butter
    and punching a nose produces blood,
        so stirring up anger^[e] produces a fight.