The Words of Agur

1The words of Agur the son of Jakeh; the prophecy uttered by the man unto Ithiel, [even] unto Ithiel and Ucal:

2Truly I am more stupid than any one; and I have not a man's intelligence.

3I have neither learned wisdom, nor have I the knowledge of the Holy.

4Who hath ascended up into the heavens, and descended? Who hath gathered the wind in his fists? Who hath bound the waters in a mantle? Who hath established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou knowest?

5Every word of +God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.

6Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.

7Two things do I ask of thee; deny me [them] not before I die:

8Remove far from me vanity and lies; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the bread of my daily need:

9lest I be full and deny [thee], and say, Who is Jehovah? or lest I be poor and steal, and outrage the name of my God.

10Speak not too much about a servant to his master, lest he curse thee, and thou be held guilty.

11There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother;

12there is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, yet are not washed from their filthiness;

13there is a generation, -- how lofty are their eyes, how their eyelids are lifted up!

14 -- a generation whose teeth are swords, and their jaw-teeth knives, to devour the afflicted from off the earth, and the needy from [among] men.

15The leech hath two daughters: Give, give. There are three [things] never satisfied; four which say not, It is enough:

16 -- Sheol, and the barren womb; the earth which is not filled with water, and the fire which saith not, It is enough.

17The eye that mocketh at a father, and despiseth to obey a mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it.

18There are three [things] too wonderful for me, and four that I know not:

19The way of an eagle in the heavens, the way of a serpent upon a rock, the way of a ship in the midst of the sea, and the way of a man with a maid.

20Such is the way of an adulterous woman: she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.

21Under three [things] the earth is disquieted, and under four it cannot bear up:

22Under a servant when he reigneth, and a churl when he is filled with meat;

23under an odious [woman] when she is married, and a handmaid when she is heir to her mistress.

24There are four [things] little upon the earth, and they are exceeding wise:

25The ants, a people not strong, yet they provide their food in the summer;

26the rock-badgers are but a feeble folk, yet they make their house in the cliff;

27the locusts have no king, yet they go forth all of them by bands;

28thou takest hold of the lizard with the hands, yet is she in kings' palaces.

29There are three [things] which have a stately step, and four are comely in going:

30The lion, mighty among beasts, which turneth not away for any;

31a [horse] girt in the loins; or the he-goat; and a king, against whom none can rise up.

32If thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself, or if thou hast thought evil, [lay] the hand upon thy mouth.

33For the pressing of milk bringeth forth butter, and the pressing of the nose bringeth forth blood; and the pressing of anger bringeth forth strife.