Job 28
1 “Surely there is a mine for silver and a place where gold is refined.
The siluer surely hath his veyne, and ye gold his place, where they take it.
2 Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore.
Yron is taken out of the dust, and brasse is molten out of the stone.
3 Man puts an end to the darkness; he probes the farthest recesses for ore in deepest darkness.
God putteth an end to darkenesse, and he tryeth the perfection of all things: he setteth a bond of darkenesse, and of the shadowe of death.
4 Far from human habitation he cuts a shaft in places forgotten by the foot of man. Far from men he dangles and sways.
The flood breaketh out against the inhabitant, and the waters forgotten of the foote, being higher then man, are gone away.
5 Food may come from the earth, but from below it is transformed as by fire.
Out of the same earth commeth bread, and vnder it, as it were fire is turned vp.
6 Its rocks are the source of sapphires, containing flecks of gold.
The stones thereof are a place of saphirs, and the dust of it is golde.
7 No bird of prey knows that path; no falcon’s eye has seen it.
There is a path which no foule hath knowen, neyther hath the kites eye seene it.
8 Proud beasts have never trodden it; no lion has ever prowled over it.
The lyons whelpes haue not walked it, nor the lyon passed thereby.
9 The miner strikes the flint; he overturns mountains at their base.
He putteth his hand vpon the rockes, and ouerthroweth the mountaines by the rootes.
10 He hews out channels in the rocks, and his eyes spot every treasure.
He breaketh riuers in the rockes, and his eye seeth euery precious thing.
11 He stops up the sources of the streams to bring what is hidden to light.
He bindeth the floods, that they doe not ouerflowe, and the thing that is hid, bringeth he to light.
12 But where can wisdom be found, and where does understanding dwell?
But where is wisdome found? and where is the place of vnderstanding?
13 No man can know its value, nor is it found in the land of the living.
Man knoweth not the price thereof: for it is not found in the land of the liuing.
14 The ocean depths say, ‘It is not in me,’ while the sea declares, ‘It is not with me.’
The depth sayth, It is not in mee: the sea also sayth, It is not with me.
15 It cannot be bought with gold, nor can its price be weighed out in silver.
Golde shall not be giuen for it, neyther shall siluer be weighed for the price thereof.
16 It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, in precious onyx or sapphire.
It shall not be valued with the wedge of golde of Ophir, nor with the precious onix, nor the saphir.
17 Neither gold nor crystal can compare to it, nor jewels of fine gold be exchanged for it.
The golde nor the chrystall shall be equall vnto it, nor the exchange shalbe for plate of fine golde.
18 Coral and quartz are unworthy of mention; the price of wisdom is beyond rubies.
No mention shall be made of coral, nor of the gabish: for wisedome is more precious then pearles.
19 Topaz from Cush cannot compare to it, nor can it be valued in pure gold.
The Topaz of Ethiopia shall not be equall vnto it, neither shall it be valued with the wedge of pure gold.
20 From where then does wisdom come, and where does understanding dwell?
Whence then commeth wisedome? and where is the place of vnderstanding,
21 It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing and concealed from the birds of the air.
Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all the liuing, and is hid from the foules of the heauen?
22 Abaddon and Death say, ‘We have heard a rumor about it.’
Destruction and death say, We haue heard the fame thereof with our eares.
23 But God understands its way, and He knows its place.
But God vnderstandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof.
24 For He looks to the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens.
For he beholdeth the endes of the world, and seeth all that is vnder heauen,
25 When God fixed the weight of the wind and measured out the waters,
To make the weight of the windes, and to weigh the waters by measure.
26 when He set a limit for the rain and a path for the thunderbolt,
When he made a decree for the rayne, and a way for the lightening of the thunders,
27 then He looked at wisdom and appraised it; He established it and searched it out.
Then did he see it, and counted it: he prepared it and also considered it.
28 And He said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”
And vnto man he said, Behold, the feare of the Lord is wisedome, and to depart from euil is vnderstanding.
