---
title: "Proverbs 30 – Catholic Bible (CPDV) & Latin Vulgate · Bless"
url: https://blessbible.app/bible/proverbs/30/
description: "The wise man thinketh humbly of himself. His prayer and sentiments upon… Proverbs 30 in the Catholic Public Domain Version, with the Latin Vulgate."
---

# Proverbs 30

Proverbs 30 is chapter 30 of 31 in the Book of Proverbs. Here are all 33 verses in the Catholic Public Domain Version, with the Latin of the Clementine Vulgate beside them.

> The wise man thinketh humbly of himself. His prayer and sentiments upon certain virtues and vices.
>
> — Bp. Richard Challoner, chapter summary

## Proverbs 30 (Catholic Public Domain Version)

1. The words of the Gatherer, the son of the Vomiter. The vision that the man spoke. God is with him, and he, being strengthened by God and abiding with him, said:
2. “I am the most foolish among men, and the wisdom of men is not with me.
3. I have not learned wisdom, and I have not known the knowledge of sanctity.
4. Who has ascended to heaven and also descended? Who has grasped the wind in his hands? Who has tied the waters together, as with a garment? Who has raised all the limits of the earth? What is his name, and what is the name of his son, if you know?
5. Every word of God is fire-tested. He is a bronze shield to those who hope in him.
6. Do not add anything to his words, lest you be reproved and be discovered to be a liar.
7. Two things I have asked of you; do not deny them to me before I die.
8. Remove, far from me, vanity and lying words. Give me neither begging, nor wealth. Apportion to me only the necessities of my life,
9. lest perhaps, being filled, I might be enticed into denial, and say: ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or, being compelled by destitution, I might steal, and then perjure myself in the name of my God.
10. Do not accuse a servant to his lord, lest he curse you, and you fall.
11. There is a generation which curses their father, and which does not bless their mother.
12. There is a generation which seems pure to themselves, and yet they are not even washed from their filthiness.
13. There is a generation, whose eyes have been elevated, and their eyelids are lifted on high.
14. There is a generation which has swords in place of teeth, and which commands their molars to devour the indigent from the earth and the poor from among men.
15. The leech has two daughters, who say, ‘Bring, bring.’ Three things are insatiable, and a fourth never says ‘Enough’:
16. Hell, and the mouth of the womb, and a land that is not filled with water. And truly, fire never says, ‘Enough.’
17. The eye of one who mocks his father and who despises the childbearing of his mother, let the ravens of the torrent tear it out, and let the sons of the eagles consume it.
18. Three things are difficult for me, and about a fourth, I am nearly ignorant:
19. the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a serpent on a rock, the way of a ship in the middle of the sea, and the way of a man in adolescence.
20. Such is the way also of an adulterous woman, who eats, and wiping her mouth, says: “I have done no evil.”
21. By three things, the earth is moved, and a fourth it is not able to sustain:
22. by a slave when he reigns, by the foolish when he has been filled with food,
23. by a hateful woman when she has been taken in matrimony, and by a handmaid when she has been heir to her mistress.
24. Four things are least upon the earth, and they are wiser than the wise:
25. the ants, an infirm people who provide food for themselves at the harvest,
26. the rabbit, a sickened people who make their bed upon the rock.
27. The locust has no king, but they all depart by their troops.
28. The lizard supports itself on hands and dwells in the buildings of kings.
29. There are three things that advance well, and a fourth that marches happily on:
30. a lion, the strongest of beasts, who fears nothing that he meets,
31. a rooster prepared at the loins, likewise a ram, and a king, whom none can resist.
32. There is one who has appeared foolish, after he was lifted up on high; for if he had understood, he would have placed his hand over his mouth.
33. But whoever strongly squeezes the udder to bring out the milk, presses out butter. And whoever violently blows his nose, brings out blood. And whoever provokes wrath, brings forth discord.”

## Proverbs 30 in Latin (Clementine Vulgate, 1592)

1. Verba Congregantis, filii Vomentis. Visio quam locutus est vir cum quo est Deus, et qui Deo secum morante confortatus, ait:
2. Stultissimus sum virorum, et sapientia hominum non est mecum.
3. Non didici sapientiam, et non novi scientiam sanctorum.
4. Quis ascendit in cælum, atque descendit? quis continuit spiritum in manibus suis? quis colligavit aquas quasi in vestimento? quis suscitavit omnes terminos terræ? quod nomen est ejus, et quod nomen filii ejus, si nosti?
5. Omnis sermo Dei ignitus: clypeus est sperantibus in se.
6. Ne addas quidquam verbis illius, et arguaris, inveniarisque mendax.
7. Duo rogavi te: ne deneges mihi antequam moriar:
8. vanitatem et verba mendacia longe fac a me; mendicitatem et divitias ne dederis mihi: tribue tantum victui meo necessaria,
9. ne forte satiatus illiciar ad negandum, et dicam: Quis est Dominus? aut egestate compulsus, furer, et perjurem nomen Dei mei.
10. Ne accuses servum ad dominum suum, ne forte maledicat tibi, et corruas.
11. Generatio quæ patri suo maledicit, et quæ matri suæ non benedicit;
12. generatio quæ sibi munda videtur, et tamen non est lota a sordibus suis;
13. generatio cujus excelsi sunt oculi, et palpebræ ejus in alta surrectæ;
14. generatio quæ pro dentibus gladios habet, et commandit molaribus suis, ut comedat inopes de terra, et pauperes ex hominibus.
15. Sanguisugæ duæ sunt filiæ, dicentes: Affer, affer. Tria sunt insaturabilia, et quartum quod numquam dicit: Sufficit.
16. Infernus, et os vulvæ, et terra quæ non satiatur aqua: ignis vero numquam dicit: Sufficit.
17. Oculum qui subsannat patrem, et qui despicit partum matris suæ, effodiant eum corvi de torrentibus, et comedant eum filii aquilæ!
18. Tria sunt difficilia mihi, et quartum penitus ignoro:
19. viam aquilæ in cælo, viam colubri super petram, viam navis in medio mari, et viam viri in adolescentia.
20. Talis est et via mulieris adulteræ, quæ comedit, et tergens os suum dicit: Non sum operata malum.
21. Per tria movetur terra, et quartum non potest sustinere:
22. per servum, cum regnaverit; per stultum, cum saturatus fuerit cibo;
23. per odiosam mulierem, cum in matrimonio fuerit assumpta; et per ancillam, cum fuerit hæres dominæ suæ.
24. Quatuor sunt minima terræ, et ipsa sunt sapientiora sapientibus:
25. formicæ, populus infirmus, qui præparat in messe cibum sibi;
26. lepusculus, plebs invalida, qui collocat in petra cubile suum;
27. regem locusta non habet, et egreditur universa per turmas suas;
28. stellio manibus nititur, et moratur in ædibus regis.
29. Tria sunt quæ bene gradiuntur, et quartum quod incedit feliciter:
30. leo, fortissimus bestiarum, ad nullius pavebit occursum;
31. gallus succinctus lumbos; et aries; nec est rex, qui resistat ei.
32. Est qui stultus apparuit postquam elevatus est in sublime; si enim intellexisset, ori suo imposuisset manum.
33. Qui autem fortiter premit ubera ad eliciendum lac exprimit butyrum; et qui vehementer emungit elicit sanguinem; et qui provocat iras producit discordias.

## Bishop Challoner's notes

Bp. Richard Challoner, notes on the Douay-Rheims (1750); they comment on its older wording.
- Verse 1: “Gatherer” … Or, as it is in the Latin, Congregans the son of Vomens. The Latin interpreter has given us in this place the signification of the Hebrew names, instead of the names themselves, which are in the Hebrew, Agur the son of Jakeh. But whether this Agur be the same person as Solomon, as many think, or a different person, whose doctrine was adopted by Solomon, and inserted among his parables or proverbs, is uncertain.
- Verse 5: That is, most pure, like gold purified by fire.
- Verse 15: Concupiscence, which hath two daughters that are never satisfied, viz., lust and avarice.
- Verse 28: A kind of house lizard marked with spots like stars, from whence it has its name.

## Read at Mass (US)

- Wed, Sep 27, 2028 (computed): St. Vincent de Paul, Priest — First Reading, Proverbs 30:5-9

Dates after May 31, 2027 are computed by Bless from the US Lectionary cycle — confirm with your parish.

Source: Catholic Public Domain Version (Ronald L. Conte Jr., 2009), public domain; Latin: Clementine Vulgate (1592).