Every Word of God Is Tested
The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, the 1oracle.Or burden
The man declares to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal:
2 Surely I am more asenseless than any man,And I do not have the understanding of mankind.Ps 49:10; 73:22; Prov 12:13 Neither have I learned wisdom,Nor do I know the aknowledge of the Holy One.Prov 9:104 Who has aascended into heaven and descended?Who has gathered the bwind in His fists?Who has cwrapped the waters in 1His garment?Who has 2destablished all the ends of the earth?What is His ename? And what is His fSon’s name?Surely you know!Lit theLit raised upPs 68:18; John 3:13; Eph 4:8Ex 15:10; Ps 135:7Job 26:8; 38:8, 9Ps 24:2; Is 45:18Ex 3:13-15; Rev 19:12Ex 4:22-23; Ps 2:7, 12
5 Every aword of God is 1tested;He is a bshield to those who take refuge in Him.Or tried, cf. 2 Sam 22:31; Ps 18:30Ps 12:6; 18:30Ps 3:3; 84:11; Prov 2:76 aDo not add to His wordsLest He reprove you, and you be proved a liar.Deut 4:2; 12:32; Rev 22:18
7 Two things I asked of You,Do not withhold from me before I die:8 Keep worthlessness and every false word far from me,Give me neither poverty nor riches;Feed me with the afood that is my portion,Job 23:12; Matt 6:119 Lest I be afull and deny bYou and say, “Who is Yahweh?”Or lest I be cimpoverished and steal,And 1dprofane the name of my God.Lit take hold ofDeut 8:12; 31:20; Neh 9:25; Hos 13:6Josh 24:27; Job 31:28Prov 6:30Ex 20:7
10 Do not slander a slave to his master,Lest he acurse you and you be found guilty.Eccl 7:21
11 There is a generation that acurses its fatherAnd does not bless its mother.Ex 21:17; Prov 20:2012 There is a generation that is aclean in its own eyes,Yet is not washed from its filthiness.Prov 16:2; Is 65:5; Luke 18:11; Titus 1:15, 1613 There is a generation—oh how ahaughty are its eyes!And its eyelids are lifted up.Prov 6:17; Is 2:11; 5:1514 There is a generation whose ateeth are like swordsAnd its bfangs like knives,To cdevour the afflicted from the earthAnd the needy from among men.Ps 57:4Job 29:17Ps 14:4; Amos 8:4
15 The leech has two daughters,“Give,” “Give.”There are three things that will not be satisfied,Four that will not say, “Enough”:16 aSheol, and the bbarren womb,Earth that is never satisfied with water,And fire that never says, “Enough.”Prov 27:20Gen 30:117 The eye that amocks a fatherAnd bdespises obedience to a mother,The cravens of the valley will pick it out,And the young deagles will eat it.Gen 9:22Prov 15:20Deut 28:26
18 There are three things which are too wonderful for me,Four which I do not understand:19 The way of an aeagle in the sky,The way of a serpent on a rock,The way of a ship in the heart of the sea,And the way of a man with a virgin.Deut 28:49; Jer 48:40; 49:2220 This is the way of an aadulterous woman:She eats and wipes her mouth,And says, “I have done no wrong.”Prov 5:6
21 Under three things the earth quakes,And under four, it cannot bear up:22 Under a aslave when he becomes king,And a wicked fool when he is satisfied with food,Prov 19:10; Eccl 10:723 Under 1an unloved woman when she gets a husband,And a servant-girl when she supplants her mistress.Lit a hated
24 Four things are small on the earth,But they are exceedingly wise:25 The aants are not a strong people,But they prepare their food in the summer;Prov 6:626 The 1ashephanim are not a mighty people,Yet they make their houses in the cliff;Small, shy, furry animals (Hyrax syriacus)Lev 11:5; Ps 104:1827 The locusts have no king,Yet all of them go out in arank;Joel 2:728 The lizard you may grasp with the hands,Yet it is in kings’ palaces.
29 There are three things which are stately in their march,Even four which are stately when they walk:30 The lion which is amighty among the animalsAnd does not bturn back before any,Judg 14:18; 2 Sam 1:23Mic 5:831 The 1strutting rooster, the male goat also,And a king when his army is with him.Lit girt in the loins