16
1Sheol,
2the barren womb, the land never satisfied with water, and the fire that never says, "Enough."
17
The eye that
3mocks a father and
4scorns to obey a mother will
5be picked out by
6the ravens of the valley and eaten by the vultures.
18
7Three things are
8too wonderful for me;
9four I do not understand:
19
the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a serpent on a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a virgin.
20
This is the way of an adulteress: she eats and wipes her mouth and says, "I have done no wrong."
21
Under
10three things
11the earth trembles; under
12four it cannot bear up:
22
13a slave when he becomes king, and a fool when he is
14filled with food;
23
15an unloved woman when she
16gets a husband, and a maidservant when she displaces her mistress.
24
17Four things on earth are small, but they are exceedingly wise:
25
18the ants are a people not strong, yet they provide their food in the summer;
26
19the rock badgers are a people not mighty, yet they make their homes in the cliffs;