Proverbs 30:4-28

⁴Who has gone up to heaven, and come down? Who holds the winds in the palm of his hands? Who has wrapped up the waters in his cloak? Who has set the earth's boundaries? What is his name, and what is his son's name? Are you sure you don't know?

⁵Every word God says has been proved true. He defends everyone who comes to him for protection.

⁶Don't add anything to his words, or he will criticize you and you'll be shown to be a liar.

⁷God, I want to request two things from you. Please don't refuse to let me have them before I come to die.

⁸Keep me from being false, help me not to tell lies. Don't make me poor or rich; just provide me with the food I need.

⁹Otherwise if I have plenty of money, I may give up on you, saying, “Who is the Lord?” while if I'm poor I may steal and bring the name of my God into disrepute.

¹⁰Don't slander a servant to his master, or he will curse you and you'll suffer for it.

¹¹There are some who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers.

¹²There are some who see themselves as pure but they're still filthy—they have not been washed.

¹³There are some who think themselves so high and mighty, and who look down on others.

¹⁴There are some who have teeth like swords, incisors like knives, ready to devour the poor from the earth, the needy from society.

¹⁵The leech has two daughters who cry out, “Give me! Give me!” There are three things that are never satisfied, four that never say, “Enough!”:

¹⁶The grave, the womb that doesn't become pregnant, the earth thirsty for water, and the fire that never says, “Enough!”

¹⁷People who ridicule their fathers and despise obedience to the mother will have their eyes pecked out by wild ravens and eaten by young vultures.

¹⁸These three things are amazingly hard for me, four things I just can't understand:

¹⁹The way an eagle soars in the sky, the way a snake slides over a rock, the way a ship sails across the sea, the way a man and a woman fall in love.

²⁰This is the way of a woman who commits adultery: she eats, she wipes her mouth, and then says, “I haven't done anything wrong!”

²¹Three things make the earth tremble, there are four things it can't support:

²²a slave becoming a king, a stupid person eating like a pig,

²³an unbearable woman getting married, and a maidservant taking her mistress's place.

²⁴There are four things on earth that are small, but very wise:

²⁵Ants—they're not strong, but they work hard all summer storing up food.

²⁶Hyraxes—they don't have much power, but they make their homes in the rock.

²⁷Locusts—they don't have a king, but they all march in line abreast.

²⁸Lizards—you can catch them in your hands, but they live in the king's palace.