Proverbes 30.13
English standard version

Proverbes d’Agur

La relation avec Dieu

¹ The words of Agur son of Jakeh. The oracle.
The man declares, I am weary, O God;
I am weary, O God, and worn out.
² Surely I am too stupid to be a man.
I have not the understanding of a man.
³ I have not learned wisdom,
nor have I knowledge of the Holy One.
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!
⁵ Every word of God proves true;
he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
⁶ Do not add to his words,
lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.
⁷ Two things I ask of you;
deny them not to me before I die:
⁸ Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with the food that is needful for me,
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.
¹⁰ Do not slander a servant to his master,
lest he curse you, and you be held guilty.
¹¹ There are those who curse their fathers
and do not bless their mothers.
¹² There are those who are clean in their own eyes
but are not washed of their filth.
¹³ There are those&emdash;how lofty are their eyes,
how high their eyelids lift!
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.
¹⁵ The leech has two daughters:
Give and Give.
Three things are never satisfied;
four never say, Enough:
¹⁶ Sheol, the barren womb,
the land never satisfied with water,
and the fire that never says, Enough.
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.
¹⁸ Three things are too wonderful for me;
four I do not understand:
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.
²⁰ This is the way of an adulteress:
she eats and wipes her mouth
and says, I have done no wrong.
²¹ Under three things the earth trembles;
under four it cannot bear up:
²² a slave when he becomes king,
and a fool when he is filled with food;
²³ an unloved woman when she gets a husband,
and a maidservant when she displaces her mistress.
²⁴ Four things on earth are small,
but they are exceedingly wise:
²⁵ the ants are a people not strong,
yet they provide their food in the summer;
²⁶ the rock badgers are a people not mighty,
yet they make their homes in the cliffs;
²⁷ the locusts have no king,
yet all of them march in rank;
²⁸ the lizard you can take in your hands,
yet it is in kings' palaces.
²⁹ Three things are stately in their tread;
four are stately in their stride:
³⁰ the lion, which is mightiest among beasts
and does not turn back before any;
³¹ the strutting rooster, the he-goat,
and a king whose army is with him.
³² If you have been foolish, exalting yourself,
or if you have been devising evil,
put your hand on your mouth.
³³ For pressing milk produces curds,
pressing the nose produces blood,
and pressing anger produces strife.