Proverbs of Solomon 30 — The Holy Bible

A Father's Wisdom

My son, fear my words,

And when you receive them, repent;

The man says these things to those who believe in God, then I cease speaking;

For I am the most lacking of all men in discernment,

And the discernment of men is not in me;

God gives me wisdom,

And I know holy things.

Who ascends into heaven and descends?

Who gathers the winds in His bosom?

Who wraps up the water in a garment?

Who rules over all the ends of the earth?

What is His name, and what is the name of His children,

That you might acknowledge it?

All the words of God are tried in fire,

And He defends those who fear Him.

Do not add to His words,

That He might not reprove you, and you become a liar.

Two things I ask from You:

Do not take away grace from me before I die;

Make a vain word and a lie be far from me;

But give me neither riches nor poverty,

And appoint what is necessary and sufficient for me;

Lest being full, I become a liar and say, “Who sees me?”

Or being poor, I steal, and swear by the name of God.

Do not deliver a servant into the hands of his master,

Lest he curse you, and you be destroyed.

An evil offspring curses his father

And does not bless his mother.

An evil offspring judges himself righteous,

But is not washed from his uncleanness.

An evil offspring has haughty eyes

And exalts himself with his eyelids;

An evil offspring has teeth like swords

And molars like knives, so as to destroy

And to devour the poor from the earth,

And their needy from among men.

Lessons from the Animals

The leech had three dearly loved daughters,

And these three did not satisfy her,

And the fourth did not satisfy her, for her to say, “It is enough.”

Hades and the love of a woman

And Tartarus and the earth not satisfied with water,

And water and fire will not say, “It is enough.”

The eye that mocks his father and dishonors the old age of his mother,

Let the ravens of the valleys pick it out,

And the young eagles devour it.

Now there are three things I cannot understand,

And a fourth I do not know:

The track of a flying eagle,

And the ways of a serpent upon a rock,

And the paths of a ship passing through the sea,

And the ways of a man in his youth.

Such is the way of an adulterous woman,

Who, when she commits adultery, washes herself and says she did nothing wrong.

The earth is shaken by three things,

And is unable to bear a fourth:

If a servant reigns,

Or a man without discernment is satiated with food,

Or if a maidservant casts out her own mistress,

Or a hateful woman marries a good man.

Now there are four very small things upon earth,

But these are wiser than the wise:

The ants, which are not strong,

Yet they prepare provisions in the summer;

The rabbits, which are not a strong tribe,

Yet they make their own homes in the rocks;

The locust, which is without a king,

Yet he marches out as one commanded in an orderly manner.

And the spotted lizard, which supports himself with his hands and is easily caught,

Yet he dwells in the fortresses of kings.

There are three things which walk easily,

And a fourth that strides well:

The cub of a lion, stronger than other animals

And does not turn away, neither fears any animal;

A cock, walking about boldly among the hens;

A he-goat, leading a flock;

And a king, speaking publicly to the people.

If you abandon yourself to merriment

And stretch forth your hand with contention, you will be dishonored.

Churn milk, and it will become butter;

And if you squeeze someone's nose, blood will come out;

And if you draw out words, condemnations and contentions will emerge.