Job 28
1Surely there is a mine for silver, 1 a place where they refine gold. 1
2Iron is taken out of the earth; 1 copper is smelted out of the stone. 1
3A man sets an end to darkness 1 and searches out, to the farthest limit, 1 the stones in obscurity and thick darkness. 1
4He breaks open a shaft away from where people live, 1 places that are forgotten by anyone's foot. 1 He hangs far away from people; he swings to and fro. 1
5As for the earth, out of which comes bread, 1 it is turned up below as if by fire. 1
6Its stones are the place where sapphires are found, 1 and its dust contains gold. 1
7No bird of prey knows the path to it, 1 nor has the falcon's eye seen it. 1
8The proud animals have not walked such a path, 1 nor has the fierce lion passed there. 1
9A man lays his hand on the flinty rock; 1 he overturns mountains by their roots. 1
10He cuts out channels among the rocks; 1 his eye sees every valuable thing there. 1
11He ties up the streams so they do not run; 1 what is hidden there he brings out to the light. 1
12Where will wisdom be found? 1 Where is the place of understanding? 1
13Man does not know its price; 1 neither is it found in the land of the living. 1
14The deep waters under the earth say, 'It is not in me'; 1 the sea says, 'It is not with me.' 1
15It cannot be gotten for gold; 1 neither can silver be weighed as its price. 1
16It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, 1 with precious onyx or sapphire. 1
17Gold and crystal cannot equal it in worth; 1 neither can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold. 1
18No mention is worth making of coral or jasper; 1 indeed, the price of wisdom is more than rubies. 1
19The topaz of Cush does not equal it; 1 neither can it be valued in terms of pure gold. 1
20From where, then, comes wisdom? 1 Where is the place of understanding? 1
21Wisdom is hidden from the eyes of all living things 1 and is kept hidden from the birds of the heavens. 1
22Destruction and Death say, 1 'We have heard just a rumor about it with our ears.' 1
23God understands the way to it; 1 he knows its place. 1
24For he looks to the very ends of the earth 1 and sees under all the heavens. 1
25He made the force of the wind 1 and parceled out the waters by measure. 1
26He made a decree for the rain 1 and a path for the thunder. 1
27Then he saw wisdom and announced it; 1 he established it, indeed, and he examined it. 1
28To people he said, 1 'See, the fear of the Lord—that is wisdom; 1 to depart from evil is understanding.'”