17 The eye that mocks a fatherand despises a mother’s instructionswill be plucked out by ravens of the valleyand eaten by vultures.
18 There are three things that amaze me—no, four things that I don’t understand:
19 how an eagle glides through the sky,how a snake slithers on a rock,how a ship navigates the ocean,how a man loves a woman.
20 An adulterous woman consumes a man,then wipes her mouth and says, “What’s wrong with that?”
21 There are three things that make the earth tremble—no, four it cannot endure:
22 a slave who becomes a king,an overbearing fool who prospers,
23 a bitter woman who finally gets a husband,a servant girl who supplants her mistress.