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BOOK 20 OF 66 · WISDOM & POETRY · KING JAMES BIBLE

Proverbs 30

Proverbs book home•Chapter 30 of 31•33 verses
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REVIEWED OVERVIEW

Proverbs 30 Overview

Agur confesses his limited understanding, exalts God's tested words, asks neither poverty nor riches, condemns an arrogant generation, and uses numbered sayings drawn from animals, relationships, and human conduct.

ProverbsBook
30Chapter
33Verses
PoetryDivision

Before you read Proverbs 30

Coming from

Proverbs 29 emphasized correction, righteous government, anger, and the fear of man. Because many proverbs are individual sayings rather than a continuous argument, the chapter-to-chapter connection is thematic rather than narrative.

In this chapter

Agur confesses his limited understanding, exalts God's tested words, asks neither poverty nor riches, condemns an arrogant generation, and uses numbered sayings drawn from animals, relationships, and human conduct.

Leads into

Proverbs 31 turns to a king's duties and the portrait of a virtuous woman, expanding wisdom into another set of choices, contrasts, and observations.

Key understandingExplore deeper

The rhetorical questions about God's name and His son's name should be read in their Old Testament wisdom setting; Christian readers may see harmony with fuller revelation without pretending Agur states the later doctrine in full. Proverbs uses compact wisdom sayings to train judgment. Its normal patterns describe how God’s moral order ordinarily works; they are not mechanical guarantees that remove human freedom, suffering, or providence.

Major truths in this chapterExplore deeper

Central truth

Agur's humble sayings about God's pure word and observable wisdom.

Wisdom truth

In Proverbs 30, wisdom is moral skill under the fear of the LORD, not merely intelligence or practical cleverness.

Humility truth

In Proverbs 30, humility recognizes human limits and receives God’s word rather than pretending self-sufficiency.

Connections to the rest of ScriptureExplore deeper

Wisdom connection

James 1:5 says those who lack wisdom should ask God, who gives generously. This connection helps frame Proverbs 30.

Humility connection

1 Peter 5:5-6 likewise calls believers to humility under God’s mighty hand. This connection helps frame Proverbs 30.

What is clear, and where care is neededExplore deeper

Keep wisdom in context

Do not read Proverbs 30 as a set of magic formulas. Proverbs trains wise judgment in the ordinary moral order God established.

Keep humility in context

Humility in Proverbs 30 means receiving truth about human limits; it does not require pretending God has given no real knowledge or responsibility.

Read Proverbs 30 watching for…

Agur ignorance.

word pure.

neither poverty riches.

four things.

little creatures wise.

TWBC REVIEW STANDARD

Plain language. Scripture first. Fact distinguished from inference. No filler. No fake certainty. Designed to help you read the Bible itself.

Chapter outline7 sections
1-6Agur confesses human limitation and exalts the pure, sufficient word of God7-9Agur asks for truthfulness and enough provision to avoid both poverty and pride10-14Warnings about slander and a proud, cruel generation15-17Things that are never satisfied and the judgment of contempt for parents18-23Four things too wonderful and four unbearable reversals24-28Four small creatures display remarkable wisdom29-33Four things move with dignity, followed by warnings against self-exaltation and strife
1

The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, even the prophecy: the man spake unto Ithiel, even unto Ithiel and Ucal,

2

Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man.

3

I neither learned wisdom, nor have the knowledge of the holy.

4

Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou canst tell?

5

Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.

6

Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.

7

Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die:

8

Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me:

9

Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.

10

Accuse not a servant unto his master, lest he curse thee, and thou be found guilty.

11

There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother.

12

There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.

13

There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up.

14

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.

15

The horseleach hath two daughters, crying, Give, give. There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say not, It is enough:

16

The grave; and the barren womb; the earth that is not filled with water; and the fire that saith not, It is enough.

17

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.

18

There be three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not:

19

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.

20

Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.

21

For three things the earth is disquieted, and for four which it cannot bear:

22

For a servant when he reigneth; and a fool when he is filled with meat;

23

For an odious woman when she is married; and an handmaid that is heir to her mistress.

24

There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise:

25

The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer;

26

The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks;

27

The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands;

28

The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings' palaces.

29

There be three things which go well, yea, four are comely in going:

30

A lion which is strongest among beasts, and turneth not away for any;

31

A greyhound; an he goat also; and a king, against whom there is no rising up.

32

If thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself, or if thou hast thought evil, lay thine hand upon thy mouth.

33

Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth butter, and the wringing of the nose bringeth forth blood: so the forcing of wrath bringeth forth strife.

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Proverbs 30:13

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