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Proverbs 30:8-9

箴言 30:8-9

The Passage

Remove far from me falsehood and lies. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with the food that is needful for me; or I will be full, deny you, and say, 'Who is the LORD?' or lest I be poor, and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.

In the other language

求你使虚假和谎言远离我；使我也不贫穷也不富足；赐给我需用的饮食，恐怕我饱足不认你，说：耶和华是谁呢？又恐怕我贫穷就偷窃，以致亵渎我神的名。

Theme

Neither poverty nor riches

Bring a question to this passage

Many readers arrive here from a real question. These are reflections for how this passage speaks to the questions people bring most often — not an answer about what will happen, but an invitation to sit with it slowly.

How do I face this season of pressure at work?

This prayer asks for enough, not for an impressive life. It names the dangers on both sides: abundance can make you forget God, while desperate need can tempt you to abandon honesty. Under pressure at work, the question can quietly become how much you must achieve to feel secure. The passage offers another measure: what is needful, and what allows you to remain truthful. You can bring your need for income, rest, and integrity into prayer without pretending those needs are small. You do not have to call every ambition a necessity. When work pressure mounts, a situation this prayer does not address directly, what would it mean for you to ask God for enough while remaining truthful?

Carry thisEnough is a worthy thing to ask for.

Other passages for this questionGenesis 1:26-28 · Isaiah 40:31 · 2 Corinthians 10:2-6

I want to learn to love better in this relationship.

When you want to love someone better, even your good intentions can become tangled with wanting more or fearing you have too little. This passage does not directly address relationships, but its prayer for honesty and enough invites you to bring those desires before God. You might let its words make room for a quieter kind of love: speaking truth without using it to wound, receiving care without demanding that another person satisfy every need, and acknowledging your dependence on God. This prayer asks for what is needful rather than everything desired; what would enough look like in the way you give and receive love?

Carry thisHonest love makes room for both care and limits.

Other passages for this questionGenesis 1:26-28 · Isaiah 40:31 · 2 Corinthians 10:2-6

What do I need to let go of in the coming weeks?

Enough can be a difficult gift to receive when you are used to reaching for more or fearing there will not be enough. This passage does not name what you need to release in the coming weeks, but it offers a prayer for honesty, daily provision, and a life that stays close to God. You might notice where the desire for abundance crowds out gratitude, or where anxiety makes it harder to live truthfully. Letting go need not mean rejecting what sustains you; it may mean loosening your grip on what promises security without nourishing trust. Which desire for more, or fear of having too little, might you bring into this prayer for enough?

Carry thisEnough can be an honest prayer, not a lesser ambition.

Other passages for this questionGenesis 1:26-28 · Isaiah 40:31 · 2 Corinthians 10:2-6

How can I find stillness in a busy life?

The prayer here asks for truthfulness and enough food, neither poverty nor riches. It does not directly explain how to find stillness, but it gives words to a desire for sufficiency rather than endless increase. The speaker recognizes that both deprivation and abundance can put faithfulness under strain. This is not a demand to romanticize having less or to ignore real needs. In your busy life, it invites you to bring those needs honestly before God and examine the pressure to keep acquiring more. This prayer does not directly address stillness. In what way might asking God for enough help you loosen the pressure to keep seeking more?

Carry thisThere is room in prayer for the desire for enough.

Other passages for this questionGenesis 1:26-28 · Isaiah 40:31 · 2 Corinthians 10:2-6

Have a different question?

Write what you are actually carrying right now, and Lectio will answer it with this passage — Proverbs 30:8-9.

Or walk this passage through the five steps of Lectio →

Proverbs 30 — in context

2“Surely I am the most ignorant man, and don’t have a man’s understanding.

3I have not learned wisdom, neither do I have the knowledge of the Holy One.

4Who 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.

6Don’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:

8Remove far from me falsehood and lies. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with the food that is needful for me;

9lest I be full, deny you, and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ 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.

11There is a generation that curses their father, and doesn’t bless their mother.

12There is a generation that is pure in their own eyes, yet are not washed from their filthiness.

13There is a generation, oh how lofty are their eyes! Their eyelids are lifted up.

14There 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 leach has two daughters: ‘Give, give.’ “There are three things that are never satisfied; four that don’t say, ‘Enough:’

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