Single lesson
Proverbs 30: The Words of Agur
Proverbs 30:1–33
Proverbs 30 introduces Agur, who speaks humbly about his limits, trusts God’s flawless word, prays for truth and daily need, and teaches through numbered observations about behaviour, desire, order and self-control.
Before you teach
The chapter names Agur, then moves through confession, questions about the Creator, confidence in God’s word, a prayer for honesty and enough provision, warnings about harmful attitudes, and several sets of examples. These examples include social patterns, unsatisfied desires, puzzling ways, small wise creatures, stately movements, and a closing warning about pride and anger.
Students will be able to compare Agur’s humble prayer with his numbered observations and explain that Proverbs 30 teaches wisdom through trust in God’s word, truthful contentment, careful observation and restrained speech.
Welcome: Sort Agur’s different voices
5 minWrite short lines from the chapter on slips or the board. Students sort them into confession, prayer, warning, or observation. Use this to show that Agur teaches in more than one form. Tell students they will compare his humble voice in the opening with the numbered example sets that follow later in the chapter.
Proverbs 30:2, Proverbs 30:5, Proverbs 30:7, Proverbs 30:15, Proverbs 30:24, Proverbs 30:29
Read and explain: Humility, God’s word, and a measured prayer
9 minRead Proverbs 30:1-9. Point out Agur’s lowly confession in Proverbs 30:2-3, his questions about the One who rules creation in Proverbs 30:4, and his confidence that every word of God is flawless in Proverbs 30:5-6. Then note the prayer in Proverbs 30:7-9: remove falsehood, avoid both poverty and riches, and receive what is needful.
Proverbs 30:1, Proverbs 30:2, Proverbs 30:3, Proverbs 30:4, Proverbs 30:5, Proverbs 30:6, Proverbs 30:7, Proverbs 30:8, Proverbs 30:9
Discuss: Harmful attitudes and unsatisfied desires
8 minRead Proverbs 30:10-17. Identify the warnings against slander, dishonouring parents, self-deception, pride, and devouring the poor. Then read the pattern in Proverbs 30:15-16 about things that never say “Enough!” Ask how these warnings match Agur’s earlier prayer for truth and enough provision. Keep the focus on the text’s descriptions and warnings.
Proverbs 30:10, Proverbs 30:11, Proverbs 30:12, Proverbs 30:13, Proverbs 30:14, Proverbs 30:15, Proverbs 30:16, Proverbs 30:17
Compare the examples: Puzzling ways, unbearable situations, wise small creatures, stately movement
11 minRead Proverbs 30:18-31 in four short groups: amazing ways, earth-trembling situations, little wise creatures, and stately figures. In pairs, students make a four-column chart and write one feature from each set. Briefly note Proverbs 30:20 soberly and safely as a warning about claimed innocence after wrongdoing, linked to Proverbs 30:19, without personal sharing or role-play.
Proverbs 30:18, Proverbs 30:19, Proverbs 30:20, Proverbs 30:21, Proverbs 30:22, Proverbs 30:23, Proverbs 30:24, Proverbs 30:25, Proverbs 30:26, Proverbs 30:27, Proverbs 30:28, Proverbs 30:29, Proverbs 30:30, Proverbs 30:31
Make and respond: Reminder card and closing restraint
7 minRead Proverbs 30:32-33. Students choose one key verse from the chapter and make a reminder card. On the back, they write how that verse fits Agur’s wider pattern of prayer, warning, or observation. Finish with one-sentence answers: “This chapter teaches wisdom by...” and include the closing call to stop proud or angry escalation.
Proverbs 30:7, Proverbs 30:10, Proverbs 30:24, Proverbs 30:29, Proverbs 30:32, Proverbs 30:33
Questions to explore
How does Agur’s humble confession at the start shape the way we hear his confidence in God’s word and his prayer?
Compare Proverbs 30:2-3 with Proverbs 30:5-9 and explain how his low view of himself sits beside trust in God’s flawless word and a careful request for daily need.
Proverbs 30:2, Proverbs 30:3, Proverbs 30:5, Proverbs 30:6, Proverbs 30:7, Proverbs 30:8, Proverbs 30:9
What kinds of people or attitudes are criticised in Proverbs 30:11-14, and how do they differ from Agur’s prayer?
List the repeated “There is a generation...” descriptions, then compare them with the request for truthfulness and enough provision in Proverbs 30:8-9.
Proverbs 30:8, Proverbs 30:9, Proverbs 30:11, Proverbs 30:12, Proverbs 30:13, Proverbs 30:14
What do the later numbered sayings add to the chapter, from amazing ways to stately movement and the warning about anger?
Trace the sequence in Proverbs 30:18-33 and explain how these observations train readers to notice behaviour, order, bearing and the danger of forcing wrath.
Proverbs 30:18, Proverbs 30:19, Proverbs 30:20, Proverbs 30:21, Proverbs 30:22, Proverbs 30:23, Proverbs 30:24, Proverbs 30:25, Proverbs 30:26, Proverbs 30:27, Proverbs 30:28, Proverbs 30:29, Proverbs 30:30, Proverbs 30:31, Proverbs 30:32, Proverbs 30:33
Make, think or respond
Key Verse and Pattern Reminder Card
What you’ll need
- plain card or paper
- pens or pencils
- Bibles
- coloured pencils or markers
Try it together
- Ask each student to choose one verse from Proverbs 30 that stands out to them.
- On the front, write the verse reference and a short phrase from the verse.
- On the back, write one realistic example and label the verse as prayer, warning, or observation.
- Add one sentence explaining how the chosen verse fits Agur’s wider pattern in the chapter.
- Let students share their card with a partner.
This activity helps students connect one chosen verse to Agur’s larger pattern of humble prayer, direct warnings and numbered observations in Proverbs 30:7, Proverbs 30:10, Proverbs 30:15, Proverbs 30:24 and Proverbs 30:29.
Adapt for your group
- For younger or less confident readers, offer six pre-selected verses and a simple three-column choice of prayer, warning, or observation.
- For older or more confident students, require the back of the card to compare two chapter units, such as Proverbs 30:7-9 with Proverbs 30:15-16, or Proverbs 30:24-28 with Proverbs 30:29-33.
An optional closing prayer
“God, teach us humility, help us trust your words, give us truthful hearts, and help us use wisdom and restraint in what we say and do.”
Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic
Proverbs 30
1 The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, the revelation: the man says to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal:
2 “Surely I am the most ignorant man, and don’t have a man’s understanding.
3 I have not learned wisdom, neither do I have the knowledge of the Holy One.
4 Who has ascended up into heaven, and descended? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has bound the waters in his garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son’s name, if you know?
5 “Every word of God is flawless. He is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
6 Don’t you add to his words, lest he reprove you, and you be found a liar.
7 “Two things I have asked of you. Don’t deny me before I die.
8 Remove far from me falsehood and lies. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with the food that is needful for me,
9 lest I be full, deny you, and say, ‘Who is Yahweh?’ or lest I be poor, and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.
10 “Don’t slander a servant to his master, lest he curse you, and you be held guilty.
11 There is a generation that curses their father, and doesn’t bless their mother.
12 There is a generation that is pure in their own eyes, yet are not washed from their filthiness.
13 There is a generation, oh how lofty are their eyes! Their eyelids are lifted up.
14 There is a generation whose teeth are like swords, and their jaws like knives, to devour the poor from the earth, and the needy from among men.
15 “The leech has two daughters: ‘Give, give.’ “There are three things that are never satisfied; four that don’t say, ‘Enough!’:
16 Sheol, the barren womb, the earth that is not satisfied with water, and the fire that doesn’t say, ‘Enough!’
17 “The eye that mocks at his father, and scorns obedience to his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, the young eagles shall eat it.
18 “There are three things which are too amazing for me, four which I don’t understand:
19 The way of an eagle in the air, 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 with a maiden.
20 “So is the way of an adulterous woman: She eats and wipes her mouth, and says, ‘I have done nothing wrong.’
21 “For three things the earth trembles, and under four, it can’t bear up:
22 For a servant when he is king, a fool when he is filled with food,
23 for an unloved woman when she is married, and a servant who is heir to her mistress.
24 “There are four things which are little on the earth, but they are exceedingly wise:
25 The ants are not a strong people, yet they provide their food in the summer.
26 The hyraxes are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks.
27 The locusts have no king, yet they advance in ranks.
28 You can catch a lizard with your hands, yet it is in kings’ palaces.
29 “There are three things which are stately in their march, four which are stately in going:
30 The lion, which is mightiest among animals, and doesn’t turn away for any;
31 the greyhound; the male goat; and the king against whom there is no rising up.
32 “If you have done foolishly in lifting up yourself, or if you have thought evil, put your hand over your mouth.
33 For as the churning of milk produces butter, and the wringing of the nose produces blood, so the forcing of wrath produces strife.”
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.