Proverbs 29-30

29One who is often reproved, yet remains stubborn,
will suddenly be broken beyond healing.
²When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice;
but when the wicked rule, the people groan.
³A child who loves wisdom makes a parent glad,
but to keep company with prostitutes is to squander one’s substance.
⁴By justice a king gives stability to the land,
but one who makes heavy exactions ruins it.
⁵Whoever flatters a neighbor
is spreading a net for the neighbor’s feet.
⁶In the transgression of the evil there is a snare,
but the righteous sing and rejoice.
⁷The righteous know the rights of the poor;
the wicked have no such understanding.
⁸Scoffers set a city aflame,
but the wise turn away wrath.
⁹If the wise go to law with fools,
there is ranting and ridicule without relief.
¹⁰The bloodthirsty hate the blameless,
and they seek the life of the upright.
¹¹A fool gives full vent to anger,
but the wise quietly holds it back.
¹²If a ruler listens to falsehood,
all his officials will be wicked.
¹³The poor and the oppressor have this in common:
the Lord gives light to the eyes of both.
¹⁴If a king judges the poor with equity,
his throne will be established forever.
¹⁵The rod and reproof give wisdom,
but a mother is disgraced by a neglected child.
¹⁶When the wicked are in authority, transgression increases,
but the righteous will look upon their downfall.
¹⁷Discipline your children, and they will give you rest;
they will give delight to your heart.
¹⁸Where there is no prophecy, the people cast off restraint,
but happy are those who keep the law.
¹⁹By mere words servants are not disciplined,
for though they understand, they will not give heed.
²⁰Do you see someone who is hasty in speech?
There is more hope for a fool than for anyone like that.
²¹A slave pampered from childhood
will come to a bad end.
²²One given to anger stirs up strife,
and the hothead causes much transgression.
²³A person’s pride will bring humiliation,
but one who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor.
²⁴To be a partner of a thief is to hate one’s own life;
one hears the victim’s curse, but discloses nothing.
²⁵The fear of others lays a snare,
but one who trusts in the Lord is secure.
²⁶Many seek the favor of a ruler,
but it is from the Lord that one gets justice.
²⁷The unjust are an abomination to the righteous,
but the upright are an abomination to the wicked. 30The words of Agur son of Jakeh. An oracle.

Thus says the man: I am weary, O God,
I am weary, O God. How can I prevail?
²Surely I am too stupid to be human;
I do not have human understanding.
³I have not learned wisdom,
nor have I knowledge of the holy ones.
⁴Who has ascended to heaven and come down?
Who has gathered the wind in the hollow of the hand?
Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment?
Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is the person’s name?
And what is the name of the person’s child?
Surely you know! ⁵Every word of God proves true;
he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
⁶Do not add to his words,
or else he will rebuke you, and you will be found a liar. ⁷Two things I ask of you;
do not deny them to me before I die:
⁸Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with the food that I need,
⁹or I shall be full, and deny you,
and say, “Who is the Lord?”
or I shall be poor, and steal,
and profane the name of my God. ¹⁰Do not slander a servant to a master,
or the servant will curse you, and you will be held guilty. ¹¹There are those who curse their fathers
and do not bless their mothers.
¹²There are those who are pure in their own eyes
yet are not cleansed of their filthiness.
¹³There are those—how lofty are their eyes,
how high their eyelids lift!—
¹⁴there are those whose teeth are swords,
whose teeth are knives,
to devour the poor from off the earth,
the needy from among mortals. ¹⁵The leech has two daughters;
“Give, give,” they cry.
Three things are never satisfied;
four never say, “Enough”:
¹⁶Sheol, the barren womb,
the earth ever thirsty for water,
and the fire that never says, “Enough.” ¹⁷The eye that mocks a father
and scorns to obey a mother
will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley
and eaten by the vultures. ¹⁸Three things are too wonderful for me;
four I do not understand:
¹⁹the way of an eagle in the sky,
the way of a snake on a rock,
the way of a ship on the high seas,
and the way of a man with a girl. ²⁰This is the way of an adulteress:
she eats, and wipes her mouth,
and says, “I have done no wrong.” ²¹Under three things the earth trembles;
under four it cannot bear up:
²²a slave when he becomes king,
and a fool when glutted with food;
²³an unloved woman when she gets a husband,
and a maid when she succeeds her mistress. ²⁴Four things on earth are small,
yet they are exceedingly wise:
²⁵the ants are a people without strength,
yet they provide their food in the summer;
²⁶the badgers are a people without power,
yet they make their homes in the rocks;
²⁷the locusts have no king,
yet all of them march in rank;
²⁸the lizard can be grasped in the hand,
yet it is found in kings’ palaces. ²⁹Three things are stately in their stride;
four are stately in their gait:
³⁰the lion, which is mightiest among wild animals
and does not turn back before any;
³¹the strutting rooster, the he-goat,
and a king striding before his people. ³²If you have been foolish, exalting yourself,
or if you have been devising evil,
put your hand on your mouth.
³³For as pressing milk produces curds,
and pressing the nose produces blood,
so pressing anger produces strife.

From the oremus Bible Browser https://bible.oremus.org v2.9.2 30 June 2021.