Job 28

Job Continues: Where Is Wisdom?

¹“Surely 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.

⁷“That 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.

⁹“Man 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.

¹²“But 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.

²⁰“From 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.’

²³“God 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.’”