Proverbs
30* The words of Agur the son of Jakeh the Massaite.
Quoth the man, “I am tired, God,
tired, God, and used up,
2 Because I am more of a brute beast than of a man
and have not human sense,
4 Who has gone up to the sky and come down?
who has taken the wind in his two hands?
Who has taken up water in a blanket?
who set up all the extremities of the earth?
What is his name, and the name of his son?
—since you know!
5 Every say of God’s is sterling;
he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
6 Do not add to his words,
for fear he should arraign you and you turn out to have been lying.
7 I ask two things of you;
do not refuse to let me have them before I die:
8* Keep shams and lying talk far away from me;
poverty and riches give not to me,
issue me my proper ration,
9* For fear I should have all I want and turn agnostic
and say ‘Who is Jehovah?’
And for fear I should grow poor and steal
and be irreverent to the name of my God.
10 Do not tell tales of a slave to his master,
for fear he should curse you and you bear the consequences.
11 A generation that curses its father
and does not bless its mother!
13 A generation with eyes O how lofty
and eyebrows raised!
14 A generation whose teeth are swords
and its fangs knives
To eat unfortunate men off the earth
and needy men out of the human race!”
15* The bloodsucker has two daughters: Give! Give!
Three they are that never get their fill,
four that never say “enough”:
16 The realm of death, and barrenness of womb;
earth, which never gets its fill of water;
and fire, which never says “enough.”
17 An eye that gibes at a father
and despises obedience to a mother
Ravens of the glen will peck
and a vulture’s young will eat.
18 Three they are that are too mysterious for me
and four that I do not know about:
19 A vulture’s road in the sky,
a snake’s road on a rock,
A ship’s road on the high sea,
and a man’s road in a wench.
20 Such is an adulterous wife’s road:
she eats and wipes her mouth
and says “I did not do anything out of the way.”
21 Under three earth staggers,
and under four it cannot bear up:
22 Under a slave when he gets to be king
and a boor when he gets his stomach full of bread,
23* Under an old maid when she gets married
and a slave-girl when she gets into her mistress’s place.
24 Four they are that are earth’s little things
but are shrewdly wise:
25 The ants are a people that are not strong,
but they make their preparations in summer for their bread;
26 Dassies are a people that are not formidable,
but they place their house in the crag;
27 The grasshoppers have no king,
but they all go out on an aimed course;
28 A lizard you can catch in your hands,
but it is in royal palaces.
29 Three they are that are fine of step
and four that are fine of walk:
30 A lion, champion among beasts,
that does not turn back for any;
33 For bumping milk brings out butter,
and bumping a nose brings out blood,
and bumping anger brings out discord.