² Surely I am more stupid than any man,
And do not have the understanding of a man.
³ I neither learned wisdom
Nor have knowledge of the Holy One.

⁴ Who has ascended into heaven, or descended?
Who has gathered the wind in His fists?
Who has bound the waters in a garment?
Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is His name, and what is His Son’s name,
If you know?

⁵ Every word of God is pure;
He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.
⁶ Do not add to His words,
Lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar.

⁷ Two things I request of You
(Deprive me not before I die):
⁸ Remove falsehood and lies far from me;
Give me neither poverty nor riches—
Feed me with the food allotted to me;
⁹ Lest I be full and deny You,
And say, “Who is the Lord?”
Or lest I be poor and steal,
And profane the name of my God.

¹⁰ Do not malign a servant to his master,
Lest he curse you, and you be found guilty.

¹¹ There is a generation that curses its father,
And does not bless its mother.
¹² There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes,
Yet is not washed from its filthiness.
¹³ There is a generation—oh, how lofty are their eyes!
And their eyelids are lifted up.
¹⁴ There is a generation whose teeth are like swords,
And whose fangs are like knives,
To devour the poor from off the earth,
And the needy from among men.

¹⁵ The leech has two daughters—
Give and Give!
There are three things that are never satisfied,
Four never say, “Enough!”:
¹⁶ The grave,^[a]
The barren womb,
The earth that is not satisfied with water—
And the fire never says, “Enough!”

¹⁷ The eye that mocks his father,
And scorns obedience to his mother,
The ravens of the valley will pick it out,
And the young eagles will eat it.

¹⁸ There are three things which are too wonderful for me,
Yes, four which I do not understand:
¹⁹ The way of an eagle in the air,
The way of a serpent on a rock,
The way of a ship in the midst of the sea,
And the way of a man with a virgin.

²⁰ This is the way of an adulterous woman:
She eats and wipes her mouth,
And says, “I have done no wickedness.”

²¹ For three things the earth is perturbed,
Yes, for four it cannot bear up:
²² For a servant when he reigns,
A fool when he is filled with food,
²³ A hateful woman when she is married,
And a maidservant who succeeds her mistress.

²⁴ There are four things which are little on the earth,
But they are exceedingly wise:
²⁵ The ants are a people not strong,
Yet they prepare their food in the summer;
²⁶ The rock badgers^[b] are a feeble folk,
Yet they make their homes in the crags;
²⁷ The locusts have no king,
Yet they all advance in ranks;
²⁸ The spider^[c] skillfully grasps with its hands,
And it is in kings’ palaces.

²⁹ There are three things which are majestic in pace,
Yes, four which are stately in walk:
³⁰ A lion, which is mighty among beasts
And does not turn away from any;
³¹ A greyhound,^[d]
A male goat also,
And a king whose troops are with him.^[e]

³² If you have been foolish in exalting yourself,
Or if you have devised evil, put your hand on your mouth.
³³ For as the churning of milk produces butter,
And wringing the nose produces blood,
So the forcing of wrath produces strife.