Podcast E32 - Humble Observations of Reality and Morality

30:1 The words of Agur son of Jakeh. The oracle.[o] The man declares, I am weary, O God; I am weary, O God, and worn out.[p]

30:2 Surely I am too stupid to be a man. I have not the understanding of a man.

30:3 I have not learned wisdom, nor have I knowledge of the Holy One.

30:4 Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son's name? Surely you know!

30:5 Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

30:6 Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.

30:7 Two things I ask of you; deny them not to me before I die:

30:8 Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me,

30:9 lest I be full and deny you and say, “Who is the LORD?” or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.

30:10 Do not slander a servant to his master, lest he curse you, and you be held guilty.

30:11 There are those[q] who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers.

30:12 There are those who are clean in their own eyes but are not washed of their filth.

30:13 There are those—how lofty are their eyes, how high their eyelids lift!

30:14 There are those whose teeth are swords, whose fangs are knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, the needy from among mankind.

30:15 The leech has two daughters: Give and Give.[r] Three things are never satisfied; four never say, “Enough”:

30:16 Sheol, the barren womb, the land never satisfied with water, and the fire that never says, “Enough.”

30:17 The eye that mocks a father and scorns to obey a mother will be picked out by the ravens of the valley and eaten by the vultures.

30:18 Three things are too wonderful for me; four I do not understand:

30:19 the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a serpent on a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a virgin.

30:20 This is the way of an adulteress: she eats and wipes her mouth and says, “I have done no wrong.”

30:21 Under three things the earth trembles; under four it cannot bear up:

30:22 a slave when he becomes king, and a fool when he is filled with food;

30:23 an unloved woman when she gets a husband, and a maidservant when she displaces her mistress.

30:24 Four things on earth are small, but they are exceedingly wise:

30:25 the ants are a people not strong, yet they provide their food in the summer;

30:26 the rock badgers are a people not mighty, yet they make their homes in the cliffs;

30:27 the locusts have no king, yet all of them march in rank;

30:28 the lizard you can take in your hands, yet it is in kings' palaces.

30:29 Three things are stately in their tread; four are stately in their stride:

30:30 the lion, which is mightiest among beasts and does not turn back before any;

30:31 the strutting rooster,[s] the he-goat, and a king whose army is with him.[t]

30:32 If you have been foolish, exalting yourself, or if you have been devising evil, put your hand on your mouth.

30:33 For pressing milk produces curds, pressing the nose produces blood, and pressing anger produces strife.