1 The words of Agur son of Jakeh, the oracle. This man declares to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal:
2 Surely I am more stupid than any man; I do not have a man's understanding.
3 I have not learned wisdom, and I have no knowledge of the Holy One.
4 Who has gone up to heaven and come back down? Who has gathered the wind in the hollow of his hands? Who has bundled the waters in a cloak? Who has set up all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son's name? Tell me, if you know!
5 Every word of God has been refined; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
6 Add nothing to his words, or he will reprove you and you will be proved a liar.
7 Two things I ask of you; do not refuse me before I die:
8 Remove falsehood and lying far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the bread that is my portion,
9 or I may become full and deny you and say, "Who is the LORD?" or I may become poor and steal and defile the name of my God.
10 Do not slander a slave to his master, or he will curse you and you will pay for it.
11 There is a breed that curses its father and does not bless its mother;
12 a breed that is clean in its own eyes, yet is not washed of its filth;
13 a breed whose eyes are so haughty, whose eyelids are raised so high!
14 a breed whose teeth are swords and whose fangs are knives, to devour the poor off the earth and the needy from among mankind.
15 The leech has two daughters, "Give!" and "Give!" Three things are never satisfied; four never say, "Enough":
16 Sheol, the barren womb, land that never has enough water, and fire that never says, "Enough."
17 The eye that ridicules a father and scorns to obey a mother will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley and eaten by the young eagles.
18 Three things are too marvelous for me, four I do not comprehend:
19 the way of an eagle in the heavens, the way of a snake upon a rock, the way of a ship in the depths of the sea, and the way of a man with a young woman.
20 This is the way of an adulterous woman: she eats, wipes her mouth and says, "I have done nothing wrong."
21 Under three things the earth quakes, and under four it cannot endure:
22 a slave who becomes king, a fool who is stuffed with food,
23 an unloved woman when she gets a husband, and a maidservant who displaces her mistress.
24 Four things on earth are little, yet they are wise beyond the wise:
25 the ants are a people without strength, yet they lay up their food in summer;
26 the rock badgers are a people without might, yet they make their houses in the crags;
27 the locusts have no king, yet they all march out in formation;
28 the lizard can be caught with the hand, yet it lives in the palaces of kings.
29 Three things are stately in their tread, four are stately as they go:
30 the lion, mighty among beasts, which retreats before nothing;
31 the strutting rooster, the he-goat, and a king against whom there is no rising up.
32 If you have acted foolishly by exalting yourself, or if you have been scheming, clap your hand over your mouth.
33 For churning milk brings out butter, wringing the nose brings out blood, and stirring up anger brings out strife.