1 The words of Agur the son of Jakeh; the prophecy uttered by the man unto Ithiel, [even] unto Ithiel and Ucal: 2 Truly I am more stupid than any one; and I have not a man's intelligence. 3 I have neither learned wisdom, nor have I the knowledge of the Holy. 4 Who 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? 5 Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. 6 Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar. 7 Two things do I ask of thee; deny me [them] not before I die: 8 Remove far from me vanity and lies; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the bread of my daily need: 9 lest 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. 10 Speak not too much about a servant to his master, lest he curse thee, and thou be held guilty. 11 There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother; 12 there is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, yet are not washed from their filthiness; 13 there 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. 15 The 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. 17 The 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. 18 There are three [things] too wonderful for me, and four that I know not: 19 The 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. 20 Such is the way of an adulterous woman: she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness. 21 Under three [things] the earth is disquieted, and under four it cannot bear up: 22 Under a servant when he reigneth, and a churl when he is filled with meat; 23 under an odious [woman] when she is married, and a handmaid when she is heir to her mistress. 24 There are four [things] little upon the earth, and they are exceeding wise: 25 The ants, a people not strong, yet they provide their food in the summer; 26 the rock-badgers are but a feeble folk, yet they make their house in the cliff; 27 the locusts have no king, yet they go forth all of them by bands; 28 thou takest hold of the lizard with the hands, yet is she in kings' palaces. 29 There are three [things] which have a stately step, and four are comely in going: 30 The lion, mighty among beasts, which turneth not away for any; 31 a [horse] girt in the loins; or the he-goat; and a king, against whom none can rise up. 32 If thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself, or if thou hast thought evil, [lay] the hand upon thy mouth. 33 For the pressing of milk bringeth forth butter, and the pressing of the nose bringeth forth blood; and the pressing of anger bringeth forth strife.
Proverbs 30 Darby Translation
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Agur
Named in Proverbs 30:1 as the speaker whose words and burden are recorded there, addressed to Ithiel and Ucal.
Cited in the guide: Proverbs 30:1
Ithiel
A man to whom Agur declared his words in Proverbs 30:1.
Cited in the guide: Proverbs 30:1
Jakeh
Named only as the father of Agur, whose words fill Proverbs 30.
Cited in the guide: Proverbs 30:1
Ucal
A man named with Ithiel as addressee of Agur's words in Proverbs 30:1.
Cited in the guide: Proverbs 30:1
Cross references (29)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Proverbs 31:1; 2 Peter 1:19–21
- 2 Psalm 73:22; 1 Corinthians 3:18; Proverbs 5:12; 1 Corinthians 8:2; Isaiah 6:5
- 3 Ephesians 3:18–19; Revelation 3:7; Proverbs 9:10; Romans 11:33; Job 11:7–9
- 4 John 3:13; Ephesians 4:8–10; Job 26:8; Isaiah 9:6; Isaiah 7:14
- 5 Psalm 18:30; Psalm 12:6; James 3:17; Psalm 84:11; Psalm 3:3
- 6 Deuteronomy 12:32; Deuteronomy 4:2; Revelation 22:18–19; Job 13:7–9; 1 Corinthians 15:15
- 7 Luke 10:42; Psalm 27:4; 2 Kings 2:9; 1 Kings 3:5–9; Psalm 21:2
- 8 1 Timothy 6:6–8; Psalm 62:9–10; Psalm 119:37; Matthew 6:33; Luke 11:3
- 9 Hosea 13:6; Deuteronomy 31:20; Ezekiel 16:49–50; Deuteronomy 8:10–14; Nehemiah 9:25–26
- 10 Ecclesiastes 7:21; Romans 14:4; Daniel 3:8–18; 2 Samuel 19:26–27; 2 Chronicles 24:22–24
- 11 Proverbs 20:20; Deuteronomy 27:16; Proverbs 30:17; Exodus 21:17; Proverbs 30:12–14
- 12 Luke 18:11; Proverbs 16:2; 2 Timothy 3:5; Jeremiah 2:35; Titus 3:5
- 13 Proverbs 6:17; Isaiah 2:11; Psalm 101:5; Psalm 131:1; Ezekiel 28:9
- 14 Psalm 57:4; Psalm 3:7; Psalm 14:4; Job 29:17; Psalm 58:6
- 15 Proverbs 30:21; Romans 16:18; Proverbs 6:16; Proverbs 30:29; Jude 11–12
- 16 Proverbs 27:20; Habakkuk 2:5; Genesis 30:1
- 17 Proverbs 30:11; Proverbs 23:22; Deuteronomy 21:18–21; Leviticus 20:9; Proverbs 20:20
- 18 Job 42:3; Psalm 139:6
- 20 Proverbs 7:13–23; Proverbs 5:6; Numbers 5:11–30
- 22 Proverbs 19:10; Ecclesiastes 10:7; 1 Samuel 25:36–38; 1 Samuel 25:3; 1 Samuel 25:10–11
- 23 Proverbs 21:19; Proverbs 27:15; Proverbs 21:9; Proverbs 29:21; Proverbs 19:13
- 24 Job 12:7
- 25 Proverbs 6:6–8
- 26 Psalm 104:18; Leviticus 11:5
- 27 Joel 1:6–7; Joel 2:7–11; Psalm 105:34; Exodus 10:4–6; Joel 2:25
- 30 Judges 14:18; Numbers 23:24
- 31 Daniel 3:15–18; Proverbs 20:2; Proverbs 16:14
- 32 Job 21:5; Romans 3:19; Job 40:4; Micah 7:16–17; Proverbs 26:12
- 33 Proverbs 29:22; Proverbs 17:14; Proverbs 28:25; Proverbs 15:18; Proverbs 26:21
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
The slave shook the world, since by three things the earth is shaken, and the fourth it cannot bear,--if a slave became a king.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)
There are in the Book of Proverbs three things which go well, a lion, a goat, and a cock; and to these is added a fourth;--a King making a speech before the people, to pass over the other sets of four which are there counted up, although things of various natures.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)