Dual Panel1These are the sayings and the message of Agur son of Jakeh. Someone cries out to God, “I am completely worn out! How can I last?
2I am far too stupid to be considered human.
3I never was wise, and I don't understand what God is like.”
4Has anyone gone up to heaven and come back down? Has anyone grabbed hold of the wind? Has anyone wrapped up the sea or marked out boundaries for the earth? If you know of any who have done such things, then tell me their names and their children's names.
5Everything God says is true— and it's a shield for all who come to him for safety.
6Don't change what God has said! He will correct you and show that you are a liar.
7There are two things, Lord, I want you to do for me before I die:
8make me absolutely honest and don't let me be too poor or too rich. Give me just what I need.
9If I have too much to eat, I might forget about you; if I don't have enough, I might steal and disgrace your name.
10Don't tell a slave owner something bad about one of the slaves. That slave will curse you, and you will be in trouble.
11Some people curse their father and even their mother;
12others think they are perfect, but they are stained by sin.
13Some people are stuck-up and act like snobs;
14others are so greedy that they gobble up the poor and homeless.
15Greed has twins, each named “Give me!” There are three or four things that are never satisfied:
16the world of the dead and a childless wife, the thirsty earth and a flaming fire.
17Don't make fun of your father or disobey your mother— crows will peck out your eyes, and vultures will eat the rest of you.
18There are three or four things I cannot understand:
19how eagles fly so high or snakes crawl on rocks, how ships sail the ocean or people fall in love.
20An unfaithful wife says, “Sleeping with another man is as natural as eating.”
21There are three or four things that make the earth tremble and are unbearable:
22a slave who becomes king, a fool who eats too much,
23a hateful woman who finds a husband, and a slave who takes the place of the woman who owns her.
24On this earth four things are small but very wise:
25ants, who seem to be feeble, but store up food all summer long;
26badgers, who seem to be weak, but live among the rocks;
27locusts, who have no king, but march like an army;
28lizards, which can be caught in your hand, but sneak into palaces.
29Three or four creatures really strut around:
30those fearless lions who rule the jungle,
31those proud cocks, those mountain goats, and those rulers who have no enemies.
32If you are foolishly boasting or planning something evil, then stop it now!
33If you churn milk you get butter; if you hit your nose, you get blood— and if you stay angry, you get in trouble.