Ground Zero

Exile In Chapters

Thursday, March 15, 2007

From the Zabur, more commonly called, Proverbs which is attributed to Solomon and part of the Psalms of the ancient Jews contained in what is known today as the Torah or Tanakha:

The Sayings of Agur*

I am myself the stupidest of people,
bereft of human intelligence,
I have not learned wisdom,
and I lack the knowledge of the holy ones,
Who has mounted to the heavens, then come down again?
Who has gathered the wind in the clasp of his hand?
Who has wrapped the waters in his cloak?
Who has set all the ends of the earth firm?
What is his name?
What is his child's name?
Do you know?
Every word of God is unalloyed,
a shield to those who take refuge in him,
To his words make no addition,
lest he reprove you
and account you a liar.

Two things I beg of you,
do not grudge me them before I die:
keep falsehood and lies from me,
give me neither poverty nor riches,
grant me only my share of food,
for fear that, surrounded by plenty,
I should fall away
and say "Yahweh - who is Yahweh?"
or else, in destitution, take to stealing
and profane the name of my God.

Do not blacken a slave's name to his master,
lest he curse you and you suffer for it.

There is a breed of person that curses his father
and does not bless his mother;
a breed that, laying claim to purity,
has not yet been cleansed of filth;
a breed haughty of eye,
with disdain in every glance;
a breed with swords for teeth,
with knives for jaws,
devouring the oppressed from the earth
and the needy from the land.

*Agur was the son of Jakey of Massa (in Northern Arabia).

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