The wordes of Agur the sonne of Iake. The prophecie of a true faithfull man, who God hath helped, whom God hath coforted & norished.

For though I am ye leest of all, & haue no mas vnderstodige

(for I neuerlerned wi?dome) yet haue I vnderstodinge & am wel enfourmed in godly thinges.

Who hath clymmed vp i to heauen? Who hath come downe from thence? Who hath holden ye wynde fast in his hade? Who hath coprehended ye waters in a garment? Who hath set all the endes of ye worlde? What is his name, or his sonnes name? Canst thou tell?

All the wordes of God are pure & cleane, for he is a shylde vnto all them, that put their trust in him.

Put thou nothinge therfore vnto his wordes, lest he reproue the, and thou be founde as a lyar.

Two thinges I requyre of the, that thou wilt not denye me before I dye.

Remoue fro me vanite and lyes: geue me nether pouerte ner riches, only graunte me a necessary lyuynge.

Lest yf I be to full, I denye ye, & saye: what felowe is ye LORDE? And lest I beinge constrayned thorow pouerte, fall vnto stealinge, and forsweare the name of my God.

Accuse not a seruaunt vnto his master, lest he speake euell of the also, and thou be hurte.

He that bryngeth vp an euell reporte vpo the generacion of his father and mother, is not worthy to be commended.

The generacion that thynke them selues cleane, shal not be clensed from their fylthynesse.

There are people yt haue a proude loke, and cast vp their eye lyddes.

This peoples tethe are swerdes, and with their chaft bones they consume and deuoure the symple of the earth, and the poore from amonge me.

This generacion (which is like an horsleche) hath two doughters: ye one is called, fetch hither: the other, brynge hither.

There be thre thinges that are neuer satisfied, and the fourth saieth neuer hoo. The hell, a womans wombe, and the earth hath neuer water ynough. As for fyre, it sayeth neuer: hoo.

Who so laugheth his father to scorne, and setteth his mothers commaudement at naught: the rauens pycke out his eyes in the valley, and deuoured be he of the yongle Aegles.

There be thre thinges to hye for me, and as for the fourth, it passeth my knowlege.

The waye of an Aegle in ye ayre, ye waye of a serpent ouer ye stone, ye waye of a shippe in ye see, & ye waye of a ma wt a yonge woma.

Soch is the waye also of a wyfe yt breaketh wedlocke, which wypeth hir mouth like as wha she hath eate, & sayeth: As for me, I haue done no harme.

Thorow thre thinges the earth is disquieted, & the fourth maye it not beare:

Thorow a seruaut yt beareth rule, thorow a foole yt hath greate riches,

thorow an ydle houswife, & thorow an handmayden yt is heyre to hir mastres.

There be foure thinges in the earth, the which are very litle: but in wy?dome they exceade the wyse.

The Emmettes are but a weake people, yet gather they their meate together in ye haruest.

The conyes are but a feble folke, yet make they their couches amonge the rockes.

The greshoppers haue not a gyde, yet go they forth together by heapes.

The spyder laboureth wt hir hades, & yt in ye kynges palace.

There be thre thinges yt go stiffly, but the goinge of the fourth is the goodliest of all.

A Lyon which is kynge of beastes, & geueth place to no man:

A cock ready to fight: A rame: And a kynge yt goeth forth wt his people.

Yf thou be so foolish to magnifie yi self, or medlest wt eny soch thinge, the laye thine hade vpon yi mouth.

Who so chyrneth mylck, maketh butter: he that rubbeth his nose, maketh it blede, and he that causeth wrath, bryngeth forth strife.