Thus says the man: I am weary, O God;

I am weary, O God, and am wasting away.v^,*

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.w^,*

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,

lest he rebuke you, and you 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,*

9lest I be full and deny you

and say, “Who is the Lord?”

or I be poor and steal

and profane the name of my God.*

10Do not slander a servant to a master,

lest the servant curse you, and you 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 woman.

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,*

23a contemptible woman when she gets a husband

and a maid when she supplants 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 lizardx 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,y the he-goat,

and a king against whom none can stand.

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.*