13. There are some—how haughty their eyes!how overbearing their glance!
14. There are some—their teeth are swords,their teeth are knives,Devouring the needy from the earth,and the poor from the human race.
15. The leech has two daughters:“Give,” and “Give.”Three things never get their fill,four never say, “Enough!”
16. Sheol, a barren womb,land that never gets its fill of water,and fire, which never says, “Enough!”
17. The eye that mocks a father,or scorns the homage due a mother,Will be plucked out by brook ravens;devoured by a brood of vultures.
18. Three things are too wonderful for me,yes, four I cannot understand:
19. The way of an eagle in the sky,the way of a serpent upon a rock,The way of a ship on the high seas,and the way of a man with a woman.
20. This is the way of an adulterous woman:she eats, wipes her mouth,and says, “I have done no wrong.”
21. Under three things the earth trembles,yes, under four it cannot bear up:
22. Under a slave who becomes king,and a fool who is glutted with food;
23. Under an unloved woman who is wed,and a maidservant who displaces her mistress.
24. Four things are among the smallest on the earth,and yet are exceedingly wise:
25. Ants—a species not strong,yet they store up their food in the summer;
26. Badgers—a species not mighty,yet they make their home in the crags;
27. Locusts—they have no king,yet they march forth in formation;
28. Lizards—you can catch them with your hands,yet they find their way into kings’ palaces.
29. Three things are stately in their stride,yes, four are stately in their carriage:
30. The lion, mightiest of beasts,retreats before nothing;
31. The strutting cock, and the he-goat,and the king at the head of his people.