Words of Agur

¹The words of Agur, Jakeh’s son, from Massa.

The man declares: I’m tired, God;

I’m tired, God, and I’m exhausted.

²Actually, I’m too stupid to be human,

a man without understanding.

³I haven’t learned wisdom,

nor do I have knowledge of the holy one.

⁴Who has gone up to heaven and come down?

Who has gathered the wind by the handful?

Who has bound up the waters in a garment?

Who has established all the ends of the earth?

What is this person’s name and the name of this person’s child—

⁵All God’s words are tried and true;

a shield for those who take refuge in him.

⁶Don’t add to his words,

or he will correct you and show you to be a liar.

⁷Two things I ask of you;

don’t keep them from me before I die:

⁸Fraud and lies—

keep far from me!

Don’t give me either poverty or wealth;

give me just the food I need.

⁹Or I’ll be full and deny you,

and say, “Who is the LORD ?”

Or I’ll be poor and steal,

and dishonor my God’s name.

More sayings of the wise

¹⁰Don’t slander a servant to his master;

otherwise, the servant will curse you, and you will be guilty.

¹¹There are those who curse their father

and don’t bless their mother.

¹²There are those who think they are clean,

but haven’t washed off their own excrement.

¹³There are those—

how arrogant are their eyes;

how their eyebrows are raised!

¹⁴There are those whose teeth are swords;

their jaw is a butcher’s knife,

ready to devour the needy from the earth,

and the poor from humanity.

¹⁵The leech has two daughters: “Give, give!”

There are three things that are never satisfied,

four that never say, “Enough!”:

¹⁷An eye that mocks a father

and rejects obedience to a mother,

may the ravens of the river valley peck it out,

and the eagle’s young eat it.

¹⁸Three things are too wonderful for me,

four that I can’t figure out:

²⁰This is the way of an adulterous woman:

she eats and wipes her mouth,

and she says, “I’ve done nothing wrong!”

²¹At three things the earth trembles,

at four it can’t bear up:

²⁴Four things are among the smallest on earth,

but they are extremely wise:

²⁵Ants as creatures aren’t strong,

²⁶Badgers as creatures aren’t powerful,

²⁷Locusts don’t have a king,

²⁸You can catch lizards in your hand,

²⁹There are three things that are excellent in their stride,

four that are excellent as they walk:

³⁰a lion, a warrior among beasts,

³¹the strut of a rooster or a male goat;

and a king with his army.

³²If you’ve been foolish and arrogant,

if you’ve been scheming,

put your hand to your mouth,