¹ The words of Agur, son of Jakeh, [even] the oracle,—The utterance of the man, for Ithiel, for Ithiel and Ucal.

² Surely, more brutish, am, I, than any man, nor doth, the understanding of a son of earth, pertain to me;

³ Neither have I learned wisdom, nor, the knowledge of the Holy Ones, can I acquire.

⁴ Who hath ascended the heavens and then descended? Who hath gathered the wind into his two hands? Who hath wrapped up the waters in a mantle? Who hath set up all the ends of the earth? What is his name and what the name of his son, when thou knowest?

⁵ Every saying of God is refined, A shield, is, he, to them who seek refuge in him.

⁶ Do not add unto his words, lest he convict thee, and thou be found false.

⁷ Two things, have I asked of thee, withhold them not from me, ere yet I die:

⁸ Vanity and falsehood, remove far from me, Neither poverty nor riches, give me, Feed me with the food appointed me:

⁹ Lest I be full, and deny, and say—Who is Yahweh? or lest I be impoverished and steal, and do violence to the Name of my God.

¹⁰ Do not slander a servant to his master, lest he revile thee, and thou be found guilty.

¹¹ A generation! Its father, it revileth, and, its mother, it doth not bless.

¹² A generation! Pure in its own eyes, yet, from its filth, hath it not been bathed,

¹³ A generation! How lofty are its eyes, and its eyelashes uplifted.

¹⁴ A generation! Swords, are its teeth, and, knives, its incisors,—to devour the humbled out of the earth, and the needy, from among men.

¹⁵ The vampire, hath two daughters, Give! Give! Three, there are will not be satisfied, four, have not said, Enough!

¹⁶ Hades, and barrenness,—A land not satisfied with water, and fire, that saith not, Enough!

¹⁷ The eye that mocketh a father, and despiseth to obey a mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young of the eagle shall eat it.

¹⁸ Three, things there are, too difficult for me, yea, four, which I do not understand:

¹⁹ The way of an eagle in the heavens, the way of a serpent on the rock,—the way of a ship in the heart of the sea, and the way of a man with a maid.

²⁰ So, is the way of a woman committing adultery,—she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no iniquity!

²¹ Under three things, a land is stirred, yea, under four, she cannot bear up:

²² Under a servant, when he reigneth, and a base man, when he is surfeited with food;

²³ Under a hateful woman, when she is married, and a handmaid when she driveth out her mistress.

²⁴ Four, things there are, the small of the earth,—yet, they, are wiser than the wise:

²⁵ The ants, a people, not strong,—yet prepare they, in summer, their food;

²⁶ The conies, a people of, no power, yet set they, among the crags, their house;

²⁷ King, is there none, to, the locusts,—yet go forth in swarms, do they all;

²⁸ The lizard, with hands, reneweth its hold,—yet, the same, is in the palaces of the king.

²⁹ Three, things there are which step along well, ye, four, which excel in going:

³⁰ The lion, hero among beasts, which turneth aside from the face of no one;

³¹ The greyhound, or the he-goat,—and a king, having a band of soldiers with him.

³² If thou hast acted basely by lifting thyself up,—if thou hast plotted evil, [put thy] hand to [thy] mouth!

³³ Surely, the pressing of milk, bringeth forth curd, and, the pressing of the nose, bringeth forth blood, and, the pressing of wrath, bringeth forth strife.