< Job 28 >
1 Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place for gold which they refine.
Surely there is for silver a source, And a place for the gold they refine;
2 Iron is taken out of the earth, and copper is molten out of the stone.
Iron from the dust is taken, And [from] the firm stone brass.
3 Man sets an end to darkness, and searches out to the furthest bound the stones of obscurity and of thick darkness.
An end hath he set to darkness, And to all perfection he is searching, A stone of darkness and death-shade.
4 He breaks open a shaft away from where men sojourn, paths forgotten by the foot. They hang afar from men; they swing to and fro.
A stream hath broken out from a sojourner, Those forgotten of the foot, They were low, from man they wandered.
5 As for the earth, out of it comes bread, and underneath it is turned up as it were by fire.
The earth! from it cometh forth bread, And its under-part is turned like fire.
6 The stones of it are the place of sapphires, and it has dust of gold.
A place of the sapphire [are] its stones, And it hath dust of gold.
7 No bird of prey knows that path, nor has the falcon's eye seen it.
A path — not known it hath a ravenous fowl, Nor scorched it hath an eye of the kite,
8 The proud beasts have not trodden it, nor has the fierce lion passed thereby.
Nor trodden it have the sons of pride, Not passed over it hath the fierce lion.
9 He puts forth his hand upon the flinty rock. He overturns the mountains by the roots.
Against the flint he sent forth his hand, He overturned from the root mountains.
10 He cuts out channels among the rocks, and his eye sees every precious thing.
Among rocks, brooks he hath cleaved, And every precious thing hath his eye seen.
11 He binds the streams that they not trickle. And the thing that is hid he brings forth to light.
From overflowing floods he hath bound, And the hidden thing bringeth out [to] light.
12 But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?
And the wisdom — whence is it found? And where [is] this, the place of understanding?
13 Man does not know the price of it, nor is it found in the land of the living.
Man hath not known its arrangement, Nor is it found in the land of the living.
14 The deep says, It is not in me. And the sea says, It is not with me.
The deep hath said, 'It [is] not in me,' And the sea hath said, 'It is not with me.'
15 It cannot be gotten for gold, nor shall silver be weighed for the price of it.
Gold is not given for it, Nor is silver weighed — its price.
16 It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire.
It is not valued with pure gold of Ophir, With precious onyx and sapphire,
17 Gold and glass cannot equal it, nor shall it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.
Not equal it do gold and crystal, Nor [is] its exchange a vessel of fine gold.
18 No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal. Yea, the price of wisdom is above rubies.
Corals and pearl are not remembered, The acquisition of wisdom [is] above rubies.
19 The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, nor shall it be valued with pure gold.
Not equal it doth the topaz of Cush, With pure gold it is not valued.
20 Where then does wisdom come from? And where is the place of understanding?
And the wisdom — whence doth it come? And where [is] this, the place of understanding?
21 Since it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept closed from the birds of the heavens.
It hath been hid from the eyes of all living. And from the fowl of the heavens It hath been hidden.
22 Destruction and Death say, We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.
Destruction and death have said: 'With our ears we have heard its fame.'
23 God understands the way of it, and he knows the place of it.
God hath understood its way, And He hath known its place.
24 For he looks to the ends of the earth, and sees under the whole heaven,
For He to the ends of the earth doth look, Under the whole heavens He doth see,
25 to make a weight for the wind. Yea, he distributes the waters by measure.
To make for the wind a weight, And the waters He meted out in measure.
26 When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder,
In His making for the rain a limit, And a way for the brightness of the voices,
27 then he saw it, and declared it. He established it, yea, and searched it out.
Then He hath seen and declareth it, He hath prepared it, and also searched it out,
28 And to man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding.
And He saith to man: — 'Lo, fear of the Lord, that [is] wisdom, And to turn from evil [is] understanding.'