Online Bible

The Words of Agur

The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, the ¹oracle.

The man declares to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal:

2 Surely I am more ^astupid than any man,And I do not have the understanding of a man.3 Neither have I learned wisdom,Nor do I have the ^aknowledge of the Holy One.4 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 ^destablished all the ends of the earth?What is His ^ename or His son’s name?Surely you know!

5 Every ^aword of God is tested;He is a ^bshield to those who take refuge in Him.6 ^aDo not add to His wordsOr He will reprove you, and you will be proved a liar.

7 Two things I asked of You,Do not refuse me before I die:8 Keep deception and ¹lies far from me,Give me neither poverty nor riches;Feed me with the ^afood that is my portion,9 That I not be ^afull and deny ^bYou and say, “Who is the LORD?”Or that I not be ^cin want and steal,And ^dprofane the name of my God.

10 Do not slander a slave to his master,Or he will ^acurse you and you will be found guilty.

11 There is a ¹kind of man who ^acurses his fatherAnd does not bless his mother.12 There is a ¹kind who is ^apure in his own eyes,Yet is not washed from his filthiness.13 There is a ¹kind—oh how ^alofty are his eyes!And his eyelids are raised in arrogance.14 There is a ¹kind of man whose ^ateeth are like swordsAnd his ^bjaw teeth like knives,To ^cdevour the afflicted from the earthAnd the needy from among men.

15 The leech has two daughters,“Give,” “Give.”There are three things that will not be satisfied,Four that will not say, “Enough”:16 ¹^aSheol, and the ^bbarren womb,Earth that is never satisfied with water,And fire that never says, “Enough.”17 The eye that ^amocks a fatherAnd ¹^bscorns a mother,The ^cravens of the valley will pick it out,And the young ^deagles will eat it.

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 middle of the sea,And the way of a man with a maid.20 This is the way of an ^aadulterous woman:She eats and wipes her mouth,And says, “I have done no wrong.”

21 Under three things the earth quakes,And under four, it cannot bear up:22 Under a ^aslave when he becomes king,And a fool when he is satisfied with food,23 Under an unloved woman when she gets a husband,And a maidservant when she supplants her mistress.

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;26 The ¹^ashephanim are not mighty people,Yet they make their houses in the rocks;27 The locusts have no king,Yet all of them go out in ^aranks;28 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 beastsAnd does not ¹^bretreat before any,31 The ¹strutting rooster, the male goat also,And a king when his army is with him.

32 If you have been foolish in exalting yourselfOr if you have plotted evil, ^aput your hand on your mouth.33 For the ¹churning of milk produces butter,And pressing the nose brings forth blood;So the ²churning of ^aanger produces strife.

The Words of Agur

The words of ¹Agur the son of Jakeh, the oracle:

The man says to Ithiel, to Ithiel and to Ucal:

2 Surely ¹I am more brutish and ^astupid than any man,And I do not have the understanding of a man for I do not know what I do not know.3 I have not learned skillful and godly wisdom,Nor do I have ^aknowledge of the Holy One who is the source of wisdom.4 Who has ^aascended into heaven and descended?Who has gathered the ^bwind in His fists?Who has ^cbound the waters in His garment?Who has ^destablished all the ends of the earth?What is His ^ename, and what is His Son’s name?Certainly you know! John 3:13; Rev 19:12

5 Every ^aword of God is tested and refined like silver;He is a ^bshield to those who trust and take refuge in Him. Ps 18:30; 84:11; 115:9-116 ^aDo not add to His words,Or He will reprove you, and you will be found a liar.

7 Two things I have asked of You;Do not deny them to me before I die:8 Keep deception and lies far from me;Give me neither poverty nor riches;Feed me with the ^afood that is my portion,9 So that I will not be ^afull and deny ^bYou and say, “Who is the LORD?”Or that I will not be ^cpoor and steal,And so ^dprofane the name of my God. Deut 8:12, 14, 17; Neh 9:25, 26; Job 31:24; Hos 13:6

10 Do not slander or malign a servant before his master stay out of another’s personal life,Or he ^awill curse you for your interference, and you will be found guilty.

11 There is a generation (class of people) that ^acurses its fatherAnd does not bless its mother.12 There is a generation (class of people) that is ^apure in its own eyes,Yet is not washed from its filthiness.13 There is a generation (class of people)—oh, how ^alofty are their eyes!And their eyelids are raised in arrogance.14 There is a generation (class of people) whose ^ateeth are like swordsAnd whose ^bjaw teeth are like knives,To ^cdevour the afflicted from the earthAnd the needy from among men.

15 The leech has two daughters,“Give, give!”There are three things that are never satisfied,Four that do not say, “It is enough”:16 ¹^aSheol, and the ^bbarren womb,Earth that is never satisfied with water,And fire that never says, “It is enough.”17 The eye that ^amocks a fatherAnd ^bscorns a mother,The ^cravens of the valley will pick it out,And the young ^dvultures will devour it. Lev 20:9; Prov 20:20; 23:22

18 There are three things which are too astounding and unexpectedly wonderful for me,Four which I do not understand:19 The way of an ^aeagle in the air,The way of a serpent on a rock,The way of a ship in the middle of the sea,And the way of a man with a maid.20 This is the way of an ^aadulterous woman:She eats and wipes her mouthAnd says, “I have done no wrong.”

21 Under three things the earth is disquieted and quakes,And under four it cannot bear up:22 Under a ^aservant when he reigns,Under a spiritually blind fool when he is filled with food,23 Under an unloved woman when she gets married,And under a maidservant when she supplants her mistress.

24 There are four things that are small on the earth,But they are exceedingly wise:25 The ^aants are not a strong people,Yet they prepare their food in the summer; Prov 6:626 The ¹^ashephanim are not a mighty folk,Yet they make their houses in the rocks; Ps 104:1827 The locusts have no king,Yet all of them go out in ^agroups;28 You may grasp the lizard with your hands,Yet it is in kings’ palaces.

29 There are three things which are stately in step,Even four which are stately in their stride:30 The lion, which is ^amighty among beastsAnd ^bdoes not turn back before any;31 The ¹strutting rooster, the male goat also,And the king when his army is with him.

32 If you have foolishly exalted yourself,Or if you have plotted evil, ^aput your hand on your mouth. Job 21:5; 40:433 Surely the churning of milk produces butter,And wringing the nose produces blood;So the churning of ^aanger produces strife.

Every Word of God Is Tested

The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, the ¹oracle.

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.3 Neither have I learned wisdom,Nor do I know the ^aknowledge of the Holy One.4 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 ²^destablished all the ends of the earth?What is His ^ename? And what is His ^fSon’s name?Surely you know!

5 Every ^aword of God is ¹tested;He is a ^bshield to those who take refuge in Him.6 ^aDo not add to His wordsLest He reprove you, and you be proved a liar.

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,9 Lest I be ^afull and deny ^bYou and say, “Who is Yahweh?”Or lest I be ^cimpoverished and steal,And ¹^dprofane the name of my God.

10 Do not slander a slave to his master,Lest he ^acurse you and you be found guilty.

11 There is a generation that ^acurses its fatherAnd does not bless its mother.12 There is a generation that is ^aclean in its own eyes,Yet is not washed from its filthiness.13 There is a generation—oh how ^ahaughty are its eyes!And its eyelids are lifted up.14 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.

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.”17 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.

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.20 This is the way of an ^aadulterous woman:She eats and wipes her mouth,And says, “I have done no wrong.”

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,23 Under ¹an unloved woman when she gets a husband,And a servant-girl when she supplants her mistress.

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;26 The ¹^ashephanim are not a mighty people,Yet they make their houses in the cliff;27 The locusts have no king,Yet all of them go out in ^arank;28 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,31 The ¹strutting rooster, the male goat also,And a king when his army is with him.

32 If you have been wickedly foolish in lifting yourself up,Or if you have schemed evil, ^aput your hand on your mouth.33 For pressing milk brings forth butter,And pressing the nose brings forth blood;And pressing ^aanger brings forth strife.