15
The leech has two daughters: “Give, Give!”
Three things(A) are never satisfied;
four never say, “Enough!”:
16
Sheol;(B) a childless womb;(C)
earth, which is never satisfied with water;
and fire, which never says, “Enough!”
17
As for the eye that ridicules a father(D)
and despises obedience to a mother,
may ravens of the valley pluck it out
and young vultures eat it.(E)
18
Three things are beyond me;
four I can’t understand:
19
the way of an eagle in the sky,
the way of a snake on a rock,
the way of a ship at sea,
and the way of a man with a young woman.
20
This is the way of an adulteress:
she eats and wipes her mouth
and says, “I’ve done nothing wrong.”(F)
21
The earth trembles under three things;
it cannot bear up under four:
22
a servant when he becomes king,(G)
a fool when he is stuffed with food,
23
an unloved woman when she marries,(H)
and a servant girl when she ousts her queen.
24
Four things on earth are small,
yet they are extremely wise:
25
the ants are not a strong people,
yet they store up their food in the summer;(I)
26
hyraxes are not a mighty people,
yet they make their homes in the cliffs;(J)
27
locusts have no king,
yet all of them march in ranks;(K)
28
a lizard(a) can be caught in your hands,
yet it lives in kings’ palaces.
29
Three things are stately in their stride,
even four are stately in their walk:

Footnotes:

a. Proverbs 30:28: Or spider

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