Sayings of Agur

¹The sayings of Agur son of Jakeh – an inspired utterance.

This man’s utterance to Ithiel:

‘I am weary, God,

but I can prevail.

²Surely I am only a brute, not a man;

I do not have human understanding.

³I have not learned wisdom,

nor have I attained to the knowledge of the Holy One.

⁴Who has gone up to heaven and come down?

Whose hands have gathered up the wind?

Who has wrapped up the waters in a cloak?

Who has established all the ends of the earth?

What is his name, and what is the name of his son?

Surely you know!

⁵‘Every word of God is flawless;

he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

⁶Do not add to his words,

or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.

⁷‘Two things I ask of you, Lord;

do not refuse me before I die:

⁸keep falsehood and lies far from me;

give me neither poverty nor riches,

but give me only my daily bread.

⁹Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you

and say, “Who is the Lord?”

Or I may become poor and steal,

and so dishonour the name of my God.

¹⁰‘Do not slander a servant to their master,

or they will curse you, and you will pay for it.

¹¹‘There are those who curse their fathers

and do not bless their mothers;

¹²those who are pure in their own eyes

and yet are not cleansed of their filth;

¹³those whose eyes are ever so haughty,

whose glances are so disdainful;

¹⁴those whose teeth are swords

and whose jaws are set with knives

to devour the poor from the earth

and the needy from among the human race.

¹⁵‘The leech has two daughters.

“Give! Give!” they cry.

‘There are three things that are never satisfied,

four that never say, “Enough!”:

¹⁶the grave

and the barren womb;

land, which is never satisfied with water,

and fire, which never says, “Enough!”

¹⁷‘The eye that mocks a father,

that scorns an aged mother,

will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley,

will be eaten by the vultures.

¹⁸‘There are three things that are too amazing for me,

four that I do not understand:

¹⁹the way of an eagle in the sky,

the way of a snake on a rock,

the way of a ship on the high seas,

and the way of a man with a young woman.

²⁰‘This is the way of an adulterous woman:

she eats and wipes her mouth

and says, “I’ve done nothing wrong.”

²¹‘Under three things the earth trembles,

under four it cannot bear up:

²²a servant who becomes king,

a godless fool who gets plenty to eat,

²³a contemptible woman who gets married,

and a servant who displaces her mistress.

²⁴‘Four things on earth are small,

yet they are extremely wise:

²⁵ants are creatures of little strength,

yet they store up their food in the summer;

²⁶hyraxes are creatures of little power,

yet they make their home in the crags;

²⁷locusts have no king,

yet they advance together in ranks;

²⁸a lizard can be caught with the hand,

yet it is found in kings’ palaces.

²⁹‘There are three things that are stately in their stride,

four that move with stately bearing:

³⁰a lion, mighty among beasts, who retreats before nothing;

³¹a strutting cock,

a he-goat,

and a king secure against revolt.

³²‘If you play the fool and exalt yourself,

or if you plan evil,

clap your hand over your mouth!

³³For as churning cream produces butter,

and as twisting the nose produces blood,

so stirring up anger produces strife.’