OEB PRO Chapter 30

Collection of Brief Discourses and Aphorisms

30 The words of Agur, son of Jakeh, the Massaite. Oracle of the man.

The Weary World-Problem

I have wearied myself, O God;

O God, I am weary and spent:

2 For dull as a brute am I,

not a man with the mind of a man.

3 I have not learned wisdom,

and nothing I know of the Holy One.

4 Who has climbed the heavens and come down?

Who has gathered the wind in his fist?

Who has tied in a garment the waters,

or set up the bounds of the earth?

What is his name, or his son’s name?

for surely you know.

5 The words of God have all been tested,

he shields those who take refuge in him.

6 To his words add you nothing at all,

lest He should convict you of being a liar.

A Prayer for Preservation alike from Wealth and Poverty

7 For two things I entreat you;

deny me not, before I die.

8 Put falseness and lying away from me;

give me neither riches nor poverty,

grant me the food I need;

9 lest, if surfeited, I deny you,

and say, ‘Who then is the Lord?’

Or poverty drive me to steal,

and profane the name of my God.

Against Defamation

10 To a master defame not his servant,

lest he curse you and you have to smart for it.

Four Evil Types

11 There are those who curse their fathers,

and leave their mothers unblessed.

12 There are others that think themselves pure,

yet are all unwashed of their filthiness.

13 There are others with haughty eyes

and supercilious eyebrows.

14 There are others whose teeth are swords –

the teeth in their jaws are knives,

to devour the poor from the earth.

and the needy from off the ground.

Four Insatiable Things

15 There are three things that never are satisfied –

four that say never, ‘Enough!’

16 Sheol; the womb that is barren;

the earth unsated with water;

and fire that says never, ‘Enough!’

Against Contempt of Parents

17 The eye that mocks a father,

and scornes an aged mother,

will be picked by the crows of the valley

and clean devoured by vultures.

Four Mysterious Things

18 Three things are too wonderful for me –

four are beyond my knowledge:

19 the way of a vulture in air,

the way of a snake on a rock,

the way of a ship on the sea,

and the way of a man with a woman.

Four Intolerable Things

21 Under three things the earth does tremble –

four she cannot bear:

22 A slave when he comes to the throne,

a fool who has more than enough,

23 a plain woman when she gets married,

a maid that is heir to her mistress.

Four Things Little but Wise

24 Of the small things of earth there are four.

and wiser they are than the wisest.

25 The ants are a feeble folk,

yet they lay up their food in the summer.

26 A feeble folk, too, are the conies,

yet they make their house in the rocks.

27 The locusts again, though kingless,

yet march, every one, in good order.

28 And a lizard you could crush in your hand

finds her way into royal palaces.

Four Stately Things

29 Three creatures there are whose step is stately,

four whose step is majestic –

30 The lion, most valiant of beasts,

who in presence of foe never flinches;

31 The proud strutting cock and the he-goat,

and a king who is head of his army.

32 Bluster you not in arrogance,

but lay your hand on your mouth.

33 As the churning of milk yields curd,

and the wringing of the nose yields blood,

so the churning of wrath yields strife.