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Sayings of Agur

30The words of Agur son of Jakeh. An oracle.

Thus says the man: I am weary, O God,
   I am weary, O God. How can I prevail?^*
2 Surely I am too stupid to be human;
   I do not have human understanding.
³ I have not learned wisdom,
   nor have I knowledge of the holy ones.^*
4 Who has ascended to heaven and come down?
   Who has gathered the wind in the hollow of the hand?
Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment?
   Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is the person’s name?
   And what is the name of the person’s child?
   Surely you know!

⁵ Every word of God proves true;
   he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
⁶ Do not add to his words,
   or else he will rebuke you, and you will be found a liar.

⁷ Two things I ask of you;
   do not deny them to me before I die:
⁸ Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
   give me neither poverty nor riches;
   feed me with the food that I need,
⁹ or I shall be full, and deny you,
   and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’
or I shall be poor, and steal,
   and profane the name of my God.

¹⁰ Do not slander a servant to a master,
   or the servant will curse you, and you will be held guilty.

¹¹ There are those who curse their fathers
   and do not bless their mothers.
¹² There are those who are pure in their own eyes
   yet are not cleansed of their filthiness.
¹³ There are those—how lofty are their eyes,
   how high their eyelids lift!—
¹⁴ there are those whose teeth are swords,
   whose teeth are knives,
to devour the poor from off the earth,
   the needy from among mortals.

¹⁵ The leech^* has two daughters;
   ‘Give, give,’ they cry.
Three things are never satisfied;
   four never say, ‘Enough’:
¹⁶ Sheol, the barren womb,
   the earth ever thirsty for water,
   and the fire that never says, ‘Enough.’^*

¹⁷ The eye that mocks a father
   and scorns to obey a mother
will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley
   and eaten by the vultures.

¹⁸ Three things are too wonderful for me;
   four I do not understand:
¹⁹ the way of an eagle in the sky,
   the way of a snake on a rock,
the way of a ship on the high seas,
   and the way of a man with a girl.

²⁰ This is the way of an adulteress:
   she eats, and wipes her mouth,
   and says, ‘I have done no wrong.’

²¹ Under three things the earth trembles;
   under four it cannot bear up:
²² a slave when he becomes king,
   and a fool when glutted with food;
²³ an unloved woman when she gets a husband,
   and a maid when she succeeds her mistress.

²⁴ Four things on earth are small,
   yet they are exceedingly wise:
²⁵ the ants are a people without strength,
   yet they provide their food in the summer;
²⁶ the badgers are a people without power,
   yet they make their homes in the rocks;
²⁷ the locusts have no king,
   yet all of them march in rank;
²⁸ the lizard^* can be grasped in the hand,
   yet it is found in kings’ palaces.

²⁹ Three things are stately in their stride;
   four are stately in their gait:
³⁰ the lion, which is mightiest among wild animals
   and does not turn back before any;
³¹ the strutting rooster,^* the he-goat,
   and a king striding before^* his people.

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