Job 28

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

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

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

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

⁵As for the earth , out of it comes bread , but underneath it is turned up as by fire .

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

¹⁵It cannot be bought for gold , and silver cannot be weighed as its price .

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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