2. I am more brute than human being,without even human intelligence;
3. Neither have I learned wisdom,nor have I the knowledge of the Holy One.
4. Who has gone up to heaven and come down again—who has cupped the wind in the hollow of the hand?Who has bound up the waters in a cloak—who has established all the ends of the earth?What is that person’s name, or the name of his son?”
5. Every word of God is tested;he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
6. Add nothing to his words,lest he reprimand you, and you be proved a liar.
7. Two things I ask of you,do not deny them to me before I die:
8. Put falsehood and lying far from me,give me neither poverty nor riches;provide me only with the food I need;
9. Lest, being full, I deny you,saying, “Who is the Lord?”Or, being in want, I steal,and profane the name of my God.
10. Do not criticize servants to their master,lest they curse you, and you have to pay the penalty.
11. There are some who curse their fathers,and do not bless their mothers.
12. There are some pure in their own eyes,yet not cleansed of their filth.
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.