There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother.
Proverbs 30 contains a series of sharp, observational statements about human behavior written by a man named Agur, who describes himself as simple and unlearned — not a great sage but an honest observer. Verses 11 through 14 each begin with 'there are those who...' and describe four types of people marked by a specific moral failure. This first type curses their father and does not bless their mother. In the ancient world, honoring parents was one of the Ten Commandments and formed the bedrock of family and community life — to curse a parent was a serious offense against both family and God. 'Curse' means to speak contempt over someone or treat them as worthless; 'bless' means to actively speak well of someone or show goodness toward them. Agur offers no commentary — he simply holds up a mirror.
God, family relationships are complicated — and you know every detail of mine. Where I've let contempt take root and call itself justice, give me the courage to release it. Help me to honor where I can, forgive where I must, and speak blessing instead of bitterness. Amen.
Agur doesn't soften this one. He just says: there are people like this. People who speak contempt over the ones who gave them life. And before you mentally file this under 'other people's problems,' it's worth asking whether honoring our parents is as straightforward as we assume. For some readers, this verse feels uncomplicated. For others, it's genuinely painful — because the parents in question weren't safe, weren't kind, or weren't there. Honoring a parent who hurt you is not the same as pretending the hurt didn't happen, and it would be dishonest to suggest otherwise. But Agur's observation cuts in another direction too: there's a posture of the heart that curses — that rehearses old grievances, withholds grace on principle, speaks dismissively about the people we came from. That posture corrodes us whether or not the parent deserves it. What would it look like to stop rehearsing the worst, and start — even imperfectly, even tentatively — offering something like a blessing?
Honoring parents was one of the Ten Commandments in ancient Israel. Why do you think that commandment was considered so foundational — what does family loyalty have to do with a life ordered toward God?
How do you personally define 'honoring' a parent — and does it mean the same thing regardless of what kind of parent that person was?
Agur makes an observation rather than issuing a command. What do you think he is inviting the reader to notice about themselves — and what does this verse expose that a direct command might not?
How does the way you talk about your parents — or your past, your upbringing, where you came from — affect the people around you, including those you're in close relationship with now?
Is there someone in your family you've been withholding kindness or appreciation from? What would it look like to actively bless that person this week — even if it's uncomfortable?
Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
Exodus 20:12
And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death.
Exodus 21:17
Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.
Colossians 3:20
Whoso curseth his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness.
Proverbs 20:20
A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?
Malachi 1:6
The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it.
Proverbs 30:17
Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father, and keep my sabbaths: I am the LORD your God.
Leviticus 19:3
Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.
Ephesians 6:1
There is a generation (class of people) that curses its father And does not bless its mother.
AMP
There are those who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers.
ESV
There is a kind of [man] who curses his father And does not bless his mother.
NASB
“There are those who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers;
NIV
There is a generation that curses its father, And does not bless its mother.
NKJV
Some people curse their father and do not thank their mother.
NLT
Don't curse your father or fail to bless your mother.
MSG