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Proverbs · King James Version (with Apocrypha)

Proverbs 30 King James Version (with Apocrypha)

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About KJV
  • Protestant
  • OT: Masoretic Hebrew
  • NT: Textus Receptus
  • Protestant, with the Apocrypha
  • Formal (word for word)
  • 1611
  • Public domain

Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings

1 The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, [even] the prophecy: the man spake unto Ithiel, even unto Ithiel and Ucal, 2 Surely I [am] more brutish than [any] man, and have not the understanding of a man. 3 I neither learned wisdom, nor have the knowledge of the holy. 4 Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what [is] his name, and what [is] his son’s name, if thou canst tell? 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] have I required 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 food convenient for me: 9 Lest I be full, and deny [thee], and say, Who [is] the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God [in vain]. 10 Accuse not a servant unto his master, lest he curse thee, and thou be found 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, and [yet] is not washed from their filthiness. 13 [There is] a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up. 14 [There is] a generation, whose teeth [are as] swords, and their jaw teeth [as] knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from [among] men. 15 The horseleach hath two daughters, [crying], Give, give. There are three [things that] are never satisfied, [yea], four [things] say not, [It is] enough: 16 The grave; and the barren womb; the earth [that] is not filled with water; and the fire [that] saith not, [It is] enough. 17 The eye [that] mocketh at [his] father, and despiseth to obey [his] mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it. 18 There be three [things which] are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not: 19 The way of an eagle in the air; 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 For three [things] the earth is disquieted, and for four [which] it cannot bear: 22 For a servant when he reigneth; and a fool when he is filled with meat; 23 For an odious [woman] when she is married; and an handmaid that is heir to her mistress. 24 There be four [things which are] little upon the earth, but they [are] exceeding wise: 25 The ants [are] a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer; 26 The conies [are but] a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks; 27 The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands; 28 The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings’ palaces. 29 There be three [things] which go well, yea, four are comely in going: 30 A lion [which is] strongest among beasts, and turneth not away for any; 31 A greyhound; an he goat also; and a king, against whom [there is] no rising up. 32 If thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself, or if thou hast thought evil, [lay] thine hand upon thy mouth. 33 Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth butter, and the wringing of the nose bringeth forth blood: so the forcing of wrath bringeth forth strife.

People & places in this chapter

From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.

People

  • Agur

    Author of Proverbs 30

    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

    Addressee of Agur

    A man to whom Agur declared his words in Proverbs 30:1.

    Cited in the guide: Proverbs 30:1

  • Jakeh

    Father of Agur

    Named only as the father of Agur, whose words fill Proverbs 30.

    Cited in the guide: Proverbs 30:1

  • Ucal

    Addressee of Agur

    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. 1 Proverbs 31:1; 2 Peter 1:19–21
  2. 2 Psalm 73:22; 1 Corinthians 3:18; Proverbs 5:12; 1 Corinthians 8:2; Isaiah 6:5
  3. 3 Ephesians 3:18–19; Revelation 3:7; Proverbs 9:10; Romans 11:33; Job 11:7–9
  4. 4 John 3:13; Ephesians 4:8–10; Job 26:8; Isaiah 9:6; Isaiah 7:14
  5. 5 Psalm 18:30; Psalm 12:6; James 3:17; Psalm 84:11; Psalm 3:3
  6. 6 Deuteronomy 12:32; Deuteronomy 4:2; Revelation 22:18–19; Job 13:7–9; 1 Corinthians 15:15
  7. 7 Luke 10:42; Psalm 27:4; 2 Kings 2:9; 1 Kings 3:5–9; Psalm 21:2
  8. 8 1 Timothy 6:6–8; Psalm 62:9–10; Psalm 119:37; Matthew 6:33; Luke 11:3
  9. 9 Hosea 13:6; Deuteronomy 31:20; Ezekiel 16:49–50; Deuteronomy 8:10–14; Nehemiah 9:25–26
  10. 10 Ecclesiastes 7:21; Romans 14:4; Daniel 3:8–18; 2 Samuel 19:26–27; 2 Chronicles 24:22–24
  11. 11 Proverbs 20:20; Deuteronomy 27:16; Proverbs 30:17; Exodus 21:17; Proverbs 30:12–14
  12. 12 Luke 18:11; Proverbs 16:2; 2 Timothy 3:5; Jeremiah 2:35; Titus 3:5
  13. 13 Proverbs 6:17; Isaiah 2:11; Psalm 101:5; Psalm 131:1; Ezekiel 28:9
  14. 14 Psalm 57:4; Psalm 3:7; Psalm 14:4; Job 29:17; Psalm 58:6
  15. 15 Proverbs 30:21; Romans 16:18; Proverbs 6:16; Proverbs 30:29; Jude 11–12
  16. 16 Proverbs 27:20; Habakkuk 2:5; Genesis 30:1
  17. 17 Proverbs 30:11; Proverbs 23:22; Deuteronomy 21:18–21; Leviticus 20:9; Proverbs 20:20
  18. 18 Job 42:3; Psalm 139:6
  19. 20 Proverbs 7:13–23; Proverbs 5:6; Numbers 5:11–30
  20. 22 Proverbs 19:10; Ecclesiastes 10:7; 1 Samuel 25:36–38; 1 Samuel 25:3; 1 Samuel 25:10–11
  21. 23 Proverbs 21:19; Proverbs 27:15; Proverbs 21:9; Proverbs 29:21; Proverbs 19:13
  22. 24 Job 12:7
  23. 25 Proverbs 6:6–8
  24. 26 Psalm 104:18; Leviticus 11:5
  25. 27 Joel 1:6–7; Joel 2:7–11; Psalm 105:34; Exodus 10:4–6; Joel 2:25
  26. 30 Judges 14:18; Numbers 23:24
  27. 31 Daniel 3:15–18; Proverbs 20:2; Proverbs 16:14
  28. 32 Job 21:5; Romans 3:19; Job 40:4; Micah 7:16–17; Proverbs 26:12
  29. 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).

  1. Quotes verse 30:21 Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures (Lecture VI)

    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)

  2. Quotes verse 30:29 Gregory of Nazianzus, Theological Orations (The Fifth Theological Oration)

    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)