Job 28

¹ Surely there is a mine for silver
and a place for gold that they refine.

² Iron is taken from the earth
and copper is smelted from the ore.

³ Man puts an end to darkness
and searches out to the farthest limit
the ore in the gloom and deep darkness.

⁴ He opens shafts in a valley away from where anyone lives;
they are forgotten by travelers;
they hang in the air, far from mankind; they swing.

⁵ As for the earth — from it comes bread,
but beneath it is turned up as by fire.

⁶ Its stones are the place of sapphires,
and it has dust of gold.

⁷ That path no bird of prey knows,
and the falcon's eye has not seen it.

⁸ The proud beasts have not trodden it;
the lion has not passed over it.

⁹ Man puts his hand to the flinty rock
and overturns mountains at their roots.

¹⁰ He cuts out channels in the rocks,
and his eye sees every precious thing.

¹¹ He dams up the streams so that they do not trickle,
and the thing that is hidden he brings out to light.

¹² But where is wisdom to be found?
And where is the place of understanding?

¹³ Man does not know its worth,
and it is not found in the land of the living.

¹⁴ The deep says, 'It is not in me,'
and the sea says, 'It is not with me.'

¹⁵ It cannot be bought with gold,
nor can silver be weighed as its price.

¹⁶ It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,
in precious onyx or sapphire.

¹⁷ Gold and glass cannot equal it,
nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.

¹⁸ No mention shall be made of coral or crystal;
the price of wisdom is above pearls.

¹⁹ The topaz of Ethiopia cannot compare with it,
nor can it be valued in pure gold.

²⁰ From where, then, does wisdom come?
And where is the place of understanding?

²¹ It is hidden from the eyes of all living
and concealed from the birds of the air.

²² Abaddon and Death say,
'We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.'

²³ God understands the way to it,
and he knows its place.

²⁴ For he looks to the ends of the earth
and sees everything under the heavens.

²⁵ When he gave to the wind its weight
and apportioned the waters by measure,

²⁶ when he made a decree for the rain
and a way for the lightning of the thunder,

²⁷ then he saw it and declared it;
he established it, and searched it out.

²⁸ And he said to man,
'Behold, the fear of the LORD — that is wisdom,
and to turn from evil is understanding.'