Proverbs 30:11-23 - Compare All Versions

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“There are those who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers; those who are pure in their own eyes and yet are not cleansed of their filth; those whose eyes are ever so haughty, whose glances are so disdainful; those whose teeth are swords and whose jaws are set with knives to devour the poor from the earth and the needy from among mankind. “The leech has two daughters. ‘Give! Give!’ they cry. “There are three things that are never satisfied, four that never say, ‘Enough!’: the grave, the barren womb, land, which is never satisfied with water, and fire, which never says, ‘Enough!’ “The eye that mocks a father, that scorns an aged mother, will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley, will be eaten by the vultures. “There are three things that are too amazing for me, four that I do not understand: the 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 young woman. “This is the way of an adulterous woman: She eats and wipes her mouth and says, ‘I’ve done nothing wrong.’ “Under three things the earth trembles, under four it cannot bear up: a servant who becomes king, a godless fool who gets plenty to eat, a contemptible woman who gets married, and a servant who displaces her mistress.

There are those who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers. There are those who are clean in their own eyes but are not washed of their filth. There are those—how lofty are their eyes, how high their eyelids lift! There are those whose teeth are swords, whose fangs are knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, the needy from among mankind. The leech has two daughters: Give and Give. Three things are never satisfied; four never say, “Enough”: Sheol, the barren womb, the land never satisfied with water, and the fire that never says, “Enough.” The eye that mocks a father and scorns to obey a mother will be picked out by the ravens of the valley and eaten by the vultures. Three things are too wonderful for me; four I do not understand: the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a serpent on a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a virgin. This is the way of an adulteress: she eats and wipes her mouth and says, “I have done no wrong.” Under three things the earth trembles; under four it cannot bear up: a slave when he becomes king, and a fool when he is filled with food; an unloved woman when she gets a husband, and a maidservant when she displaces her mistress.

Some people curse their father and do not thank their mother. They are pure in their own eyes, but they are filthy and unwashed. They look proudly around, casting disdainful glances. They have teeth like swords and fangs like knives. They devour the poor from the earth and the needy from among humanity. The leech has two suckers that cry out, “More, more!” There are three things that are never satisfied— no, four that never say, “Enough!”: the grave, the barren womb, the thirsty desert, the blazing fire. The eye that mocks a father and despises a mother’s instructions will be plucked out by ravens of the valley and eaten by vultures. There are three things that amaze me— no, four things that I don’t understand: how an eagle glides through the sky, how a snake slithers on a rock, how a ship navigates the ocean, how a man loves a woman. An adulterous woman consumes a man, then wipes her mouth and says, “What’s wrong with that?” There are three things that make the earth tremble— no, four it cannot endure: a slave who becomes a king, an overbearing fool who prospers, a bitter woman who finally gets a husband, a servant girl who supplants her mistress.

There is a generation that curses its father and does not bless its mother.  There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes,  yet is not washed from its filth. There is a generation — how haughty its eyes and pretentious its looks.  There is a generation whose teeth are swords,  whose fangs are knives,  devouring the oppressed from the land  and the needy from among mankind. The leech has two daughters: “Give, Give! ” Three things  are never satisfied; four never say, “Enough! ”: Sheol;  a childless womb;  earth, which is never satisfied with water; and fire, which never says, “Enough! ” As for the eye that ridicules a father  and despises obedience to a mother, may ravens of the valley pluck it out and young vultures eat it.  Three things are too wondrous for me;  four I can’t understand: 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. This is the way of an adulteress: she eats and wipes her mouth and says, “I’ve done nothing wrong.”  The earth trembles under three things; it cannot bear up under four: a servant when he becomes king,  a fool when he is stuffed with food, an unloved woman when she marries,  and a servant girl when she ousts her queen.

There is a generation that curseth their father, And doth not bless their mother. There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, And yet is not washed from their filthiness. There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! And their eyelids are lifted up. There is a generation, whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, To devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men. The horseleach hath two daughters, crying, Give, give. There are three things that are never satisfied, Yea, four things say not, It is enough: The grave; and the barren womb; The earth that is not filled with water; And the fire that saith not, It is enough. The eye that mocketh at his father, And despiseth to obey his mother, The ravens of the valley shall pick it out, And the young eagles shall eat it. There be three things which are too wonderful for me, Yea, four which I know not: The way of an eagle in the air; The way of a serpent upon a rock; The way of a ship in the midst of the sea; And the way of a man with a maid. Such is the way of an adulterous woman; She eateth, and wipeth her mouth, And saith, I have done no wickedness. For three things the earth is disquieted, And for four which it cannot bear: For a servant when he reigneth; And a fool when he is filled with meat; For an odious woman when she is married; And an handmaid that is heir to her mistress.

There is a generation that curses its father, And does not bless its mother. There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes, Yet is not washed from its filthiness. There is a generation—oh, how lofty are their eyes! And their eyelids are lifted up. 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. The leech has two daughters— Give and Give! There are three things that are never satisfied, Four never say, “Enough!”: The grave, The barren womb, The earth that is not satisfied with water— And the fire never says, “Enough!” 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. There are three things which are too wonderful for me, Yes, four which I do not understand: 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. This is the way of an adulterous woman: She eats and wipes her mouth, And says, “I have done no wickedness.” For three things the earth is perturbed, Yes, for four it cannot bear up: For a servant when he reigns, A fool when he is filled with food, A hateful woman when she is married, And a maidservant who succeeds her mistress.

Don’t curse your father or fail to bless your mother. Don’t imagine yourself to be quite presentable when you haven’t had a bath in weeks. Don’t be stuck-up and think you’re better than everyone else. Don’t be greedy, merciless and cruel as wolves, Tearing into the poor and feasting on them, shredding the needy to pieces only to discard them. A freeloader has twin daughters named “Gimme” and “Gimme more.” Three things are never satisfied, no, there are four that never say, “That’s enough, thank you!”— hell, a barren womb, a parched land, a forest fire. * * * An eye that disdains a father and despises a mother— that eye will be plucked out by wild vultures and consumed by young eagles. Three things amaze me, no, four things I’ll never understand— how an eagle flies so high in the sky, how a snake glides over a rock, how a ship navigates the ocean, why adolescents act the way they do. * * * Here’s how a prostitute operates: she has sex with her client, Takes a bath, then asks, “Who’s next?” Three things are too much for even the earth to bear, yes, four things shake its foundations

¶There is a kind of person who curses his father And does not bless his mother. There is a kind who is pure in his own eyes, Yet is not washed from his filthiness. There is a kind—oh how lofty are his eyes! And his eyelids are raised in arrogance. There is a kind of person whose teeth are like swords And his jaw teeth like knives, To devour the poor from the earth And the needy from among mankind. ¶The leech has two daughters: “Give” and “Give.” There are three things that will not be satisfied, Four that will not say, “Enough”: Sheol, the infertile womb, Earth that is never satisfied with water, And fire that never says, “Enough.” The eye that mocks a father And scorns a mother, The ravens of the valley will pick it out, And the young eagles will eat it. ¶There are three things which are too wonderful for me, Four which I do not understand: The way of the eagle in the sky, The way of a snake on a rock, The way of a ship in the middle of the sea, And the way of a man with a virgin. This is the way of an adulterous woman: She eats and wipes her mouth, And says, “I have done no wrong.” ¶Under three things the earth quakes, And under four, it cannot endure: Under a slave when he becomes king, And a fool when he is satisfied with food, Under an unloved woman when she gets a husband, And a female servant when she dispossesses her mistress.

¶There is a generation (class of people) that curses its father And does not bless its mother. There is a generation (class of people) that is pure in its own eyes, Yet is not washed from its filthiness. There is a generation (class of people)—oh, how lofty are their eyes! And their eyelids are raised in arrogance. There is a generation (class of people) whose teeth are like swords And whose jaw teeth are like knives, To devour the afflicted from the earth And the needy from among men. ¶The leech has two daughters, “Give, give!” There are three things that are never satisfied, Four that do not say, “It is enough”: Sheol, and the barren womb, Earth that is never satisfied with water, And fire that never says, “It is enough.” The eye that mocks a father And scorns a mother, The ravens of the valley will pick it out, And the young vultures will devour it. [Lev 20:9; Prov 20:20; 23:22] ¶There are three things which are too astounding and unexpectedly wonderful for me, Four which I do not understand: The way of an eagle in the air, The way of a serpent on a rock, The way of a ship in the middle of the sea, And the way of a man with a maid. This is the way of an adulterous woman: She eats and wipes her mouth And says, “I have done no wrong.” ¶Under three things the earth is disquieted and quakes, And under four it cannot bear up: Under a servant when he reigns, Under a [spiritually blind] fool when he is filled with food, Under an unloved woman when she gets married, And under a maidservant when she supplants her mistress.

There is a generation who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers. There is a generation who are pure in their own eyes and yet are not washed from their filthiness. There is a generation whose eyes are so lofty, and whose eyelids are lifted up disdainfully. There is a generation whose teeth are like swords and whose molars are like knives to devour the poor from the earth and the needy from among the human race. The leech has two daughters: “Give! Give!” There are three things that are never satisfied, four that never say, “Enough” – the grave, the barren womb, land that is not satisfied with water, and fire that never says, “Enough!” The eye that mocks at a father and despises obeying a mother – the ravens of the valley will peck it out and the young vultures will eat it. There are three things that are too wonderful for me, four that I do not understand: the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship in the sea, and the way of a man with a woman. This is the way of an adulterous woman: she eats and wipes her mouth and says, “I have not done wrong.” Under three things the earth trembles, and under four things it cannot bear up: under a servant who becomes king, under a fool who is stuffed with food, under an unloved woman who is married, and under a female servant who dispossesses her mistress.