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29One who is often reproved, yet remains stubborn,
   will suddenly be broken beyond healing.
² When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice;
   but when the wicked rule, the people groan.
³ A child who loves wisdom makes a parent glad,
   but to keep company with prostitutes is to squander one’s substance.
⁴ By justice a king gives stability to the land,
   but one who makes heavy exactions ruins it.
⁵ Whoever flatters a neighbour
   is spreading a net for the neighbour’s feet.
⁶ In the transgression of the evil there is a snare,
   but the righteous sing and rejoice.
⁷ The righteous know the rights of the poor;
   the wicked have no such understanding.
⁸ Scoffers set a city aflame,
   but the wise turn away wrath.
⁹ If the wise go to law with fools,
   there is ranting and ridicule without relief.
¹⁰ The bloodthirsty hate the blameless,
   and they seek the life of the upright.
¹¹ A fool gives full vent to anger,
   but the wise quietly holds it back.
¹² If a ruler listens to falsehood,
   all his officials will be wicked.
¹³ The poor and the oppressor have this in common:
   the Lord gives light to the eyes of both.
¹⁴ If a king judges the poor with equity,
   his throne will be established for ever.
¹⁵ The rod and reproof give wisdom,
   but a mother is disgraced by a neglected child.
¹⁶ When the wicked are in authority, transgression increases,
   but the righteous will look upon their downfall.
¹⁷ Discipline your children, and they will give you rest;
   they will give delight to your heart.
¹⁸ Where there is no prophecy, the people cast off restraint,
   but happy are those who keep the law.
¹⁹ By mere words servants are not disciplined,
   for though they understand, they will not give heed.
²⁰ Do you see someone who is hasty in speech?
   There is more hope for a fool than for anyone like that.
²¹ A slave pampered from childhood
   will come to a bad end.^*
22 One given to anger stirs up strife,
   and the hothead causes much transgression.
²³ A person’s pride will bring humiliation,
   but one who is lowly in spirit will obtain honour.
²⁴ To be a partner of a thief is to hate one’s own life;
   one hears the victim’s curse, but discloses nothing.^*
25 The fear of others^* lays a snare,
   but one who trusts in the Lord is secure.
²⁶ Many seek the favour of a ruler,
   but it is from the Lord that one gets justice.
²⁷ The unjust are an abomination to the righteous,
   but the upright are an abomination to the wicked.

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.