Job 28
28:1
“Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place for gold which they refine.
28:2
Iron is taken out of the earth, and copper is smelted out of the ore.
28:3
Man sets an end to darkness, and searches out, to the furthest bound, the stones of obscurity and of thick darkness.
28:4
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.
28:5
As for the earth, out of it comes bread; Underneath it is turned up as it were by fire.
28:6
Sapphires come from its rocks. It has dust of gold.
28:7
That path no bird of prey knows, neither has the falcon’s eye seen it.
28:8
The proud animals have not trodden it, nor has the fierce lion passed by there.
28:9
He puts his hand on the flinty rock, and he overturns the mountains by the roots.
28:10
He cuts out channels among the rocks. His eye sees every precious thing.
28:11
He binds the streams that they don’t trickle. The thing that is hidden he brings out to light.
28:12
“But where shall wisdom be found? Where is the place of understanding?
28:13
Man doesn’t know its price; Neither is it found in the land of the living.
28:14
The deep says, ‘It isn’t in me.’ The sea says, ‘It isn’t with me.’
28:15
It can’t be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for its price.
28:16
It can’t be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire.
28:17
Gold and glass can’t equal it, neither shall it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.
28:18
No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal. Yes, the price of wisdom is above rubies.
28:19
The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, Neither shall it be valued with pure gold.
28:20
Where then does wisdom come from? Where is the place of understanding?
28:21
Seeing it is hidden from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the birds of the sky.
28:22
Destruction and Death say, ‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.’
28:23
“God understands its way, and he knows its place.
28:24
For he looks to the ends of the earth, and sees under the whole sky.
28:25
He establishes the force of the wind. Yes, he measures out the waters by measure.
28:26
When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder;
28:27
then he saw it, and declared it. He established it, yes, and searched it out.
28:28
To man he said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom. To depart from evil is understanding.’”