Job 28
v1
“Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place for gold which they refine.
v2
Iron is taken out of the earth, and copper is smelted out of the ore.
v3
Man sets an end to darkness, and searches out, to the furthest bound, the stones of obscurity and of thick darkness.
v4
He breaks open a shaft away from where people live. They are forgotten by the foot. They hang far from men, they swing back and forth.
v5
As for the earth, out of it comes bread. Underneath it is turned up as it were by fire.
v6
Sapphires come from its rocks. It has dust of gold.
v7
That path no bird of prey knows, neither has the falcon’s eye seen it.
v8
The proud animals have not trodden it, nor has the fierce lion passed by there.
v9
He puts his hand on the flinty rock, and he overturns the mountains by the roots.
v10
He cuts out channels among the rocks. His eye sees every precious thing.
v11
He binds the streams that they don’t trickle. The thing that is hidden he brings out to light.
v12
“But where will wisdom be found? Where is the place of understanding?
v13
Man doesn’t know its price; Neither is it found in the land of the living.
v14
The deep says, ‘It isn’t in me.’ The sea says, ‘It isn’t with me.‘
v15
It can’t be gotten for gold, neither will silver be weighed for its price.
v16
It can’t be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire.
v17
Gold and glass can’t equal it, neither will it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.
v18
No mention will be made of coral or of crystal. Yes, the price of wisdom is above rubies.
v19
The topaz of Ethiopia will not equal it, nor will it be valued with pure gold.
v20
Where then does wisdom come from? Where is the place of understanding?
v21
Seeing it is hidden from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the birds of the sky.
v22
Destruction and Death say, ‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.‘
v23
“God understands its way, and he knows its place.
v24
For he looks to the ends of the earth, and sees under the whole sky.
v25
He establishes the force of the wind. Yes, he measures out the waters by measure.
v26
When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder,
v27
then he saw it, and declared it. He established it, yes, and searched it out.
v28
To man he said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom. To depart from evil is understanding.’”