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Proverbs 30:15
ESV The leech has two daughters: Give and Give. Three things are never satisfied; four never say, "Enough":
NIV "The leech has two daughters. ‘Give! Give!’ they cry. "There are three things that are never satisfied, four that never say, ‘Enough!’:
NASB The leech has two daughters: 'Give' and 'Give.' There are three things that will not be satisfied, Four that will not say, 'Enough':
CSB The leech has two daughters: "Give, Give!" Three things are never satisfied; four never say, "Enough!":
NLT The leech has two suckers that cry out, 'More, more!' There are three things that are never satisfied — no, four that never say, 'Enough!':
KJV The horseleach hath two daughters, crying, Give, give. There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say not, It is enough:
NKJV The leech has two daughters— Give and Give! There are three things that are never satisfied, Four never say, “Enough!”:

What does Proverbs 30:15 mean?

A leech thrives on blood. It attaches itself to the skin and sucks life from its host. This proverb notes that being a metaphorical "leech" does not make a person satisfied. It only results in greater demands. The word repeated here for "give" is in the "imperative" tense. It is intended as a demand, or instruction. "Give me more, give me even more" is where a greedy attitude leads. It is never satisfied with any amount of money or any number of possessions. It always wants to extract more and more. It never says, "That's plenty for me, now I'm satisfied."

In parallel with that idea, Agur (Proverbs 30:1) refers to four concepts which exhibit this same problem. Poetically, the list is introduced as "three things…four," in keeping with common literary styles of that era (Proverbs 6:16; Job 5:19; Amos 1:3). These are listed in the following verse (Proverbs 30:16).

The apostle Paul reminds the Thessalonian believers that his ministry was free from greed. He writes that he did not resort to flattery or some pretext for greed (1 Thessalonians 2:5). But this is not true of all. Paul wrote to the Philippians of those who preached the gospel out of envy or rivalry with him (Philippians 1:15–18). He spoke of enemies of the cross whose belly was their god (Philippians 3:19). He warned Timothy that in the last days "people will be lovers of self, lovers of money … among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women … these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith" (2 Timothy 2:2–8). The apostle Peter exhorts the elders to shepherd the flock of God "not for shameful gain, but eagerly" (1 Peter 5:2).
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