Proverbs 30 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

The Words of Agur

Pro 30:1The words of Agur son of Jakeh. The oracle.[fn]
The man declares, I am weary, O God;
I am weary, O God, and worn out.[fn]

Pro 30:2

Pro 30:2Surely I am too stupid to be a man.
I have not the understanding of a man.

Pro 30:3

Pro 30:3I have not learned wisdom,
nor have I knowledge of the Holy One.

Pro 30:4

Pro 30:4Who has ascended to heaven and come down?
Who has gathered the wind in his fists?
Who has wrapped up 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?
Surely you know!

Pro 30:5

Pro 30:5Every word of God proves true;
he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

Pro 30:6

Pro 30:6Do not add to his words,
lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.

Pro 30:7

Pro 30:7Two things I ask of you;
deny them not to me before I die:

Pro 30:8

Pro 30:8Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with the food that is needful for me,

Pro 30:9

Pro 30:9lest I be full and deny you
and say, “Who is the LORD?”
or lest I be poor and steal
and profane the name of my God.

Pro 30:10

Pro 30:10Do not slander a servant to his master,
lest he curse you, and you be held guilty.

Pro 30:11

Pro 30:11There are those[fn] who curse their fathers
and do not bless their mothers.

Pro 30:12

Pro 30:12There are those who are clean in their own eyes
but are not washed of their filth.

Pro 30:13

Pro 30:13There are those—how lofty are their eyes,
how high their eyelids lift!

Pro 30:14

Pro 30:14There are those whose teeth are swords,
whose fangs are knives,
to devour the poor from off the earth,
the needy from among mankind.

Pro 30:15

Pro 30:15The leech has two daughters:
Give and Give.[fn]
Three things are never satisfied;
four never say, “Enough”:

Pro 30:16

Pro 30:16Sheol, the barren womb,
the land never satisfied with water,
and the fire that never says, “Enough.”

Pro 30:17

Pro 30:17The eye that mocks a father
and scorns to obey a mother
will be picked out by the ravens of the valley
and eaten by the vultures.

Pro 30:18

Pro 30:18Three things are too wonderful for me;
four I do not understand:

Pro 30:19

Pro 30:19the way of an eagle in the sky,
the way of a serpent on a rock,
the way of a ship on the high seas,
and the way of a man with a virgin.

Pro 30:20

Pro 30:20This is the way of an adulteress:
she eats and wipes her mouth
and says, “I have done no wrong.”

Pro 30:21

Pro 30:21Under three things the earth trembles;
under four it cannot bear up:

Pro 30:22

Pro 30:22a slave when he becomes king,
and a fool when he is filled with food;

Pro 30:23

Pro 30:23an unloved woman when she gets a husband,
and a maidservant when she displaces her mistress.

Pro 30:24

Pro 30:24Four things on earth are small,
but they are exceedingly wise:

Pro 30:25

Pro 30:25the ants are a people not strong,
yet they provide their food in the summer;

Pro 30:26

Pro 30:26the rock badgers are a people not mighty,
yet they make their homes in the cliffs;

Pro 30:27

Pro 30:27the locusts have no king,
yet all of them march in rank;

Pro 30:28

Pro 30:28the lizard you can take in your hands,
yet it is in kings’ palaces.

Pro 30:29

Pro 30:29Three things are stately in their tread;
four are stately in their stride:

Pro 30:30

Pro 30:30the lion, which is mightiest among beasts
and does not turn back before any;

Pro 30:31

Pro 30:31the strutting rooster,[fn] the he-goat,
and a king whose army is with him.[fn]

Pro 30:32

Pro 30:32If you have been foolish, exalting yourself,
or if you have been devising evil,
put your hand on your mouth.

Pro 30:33

Pro 30:33For pressing milk produces curds,
pressing the nose produces blood,
and pressing anger produces strife.

See the ESV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

ESV Footnotes

(30:1)

Or Jakeh, the man of Massa

(30:1)

Revocalization; Hebrew The man declares to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal

(30:11)

Hebrew There is a generation; also verses 12, 13, 14

(30:15)

Or “Give, give,” they cry

(30:31)

Or the magpie, or the greyhound; Hebrew girt-of-loins

(30:31)

Or against whom there is no rising up

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