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