Job 28
1 “Surely there is a mine for silver and a place where gold is refined.
Surely there is for silver a source, And a place for the gold they refine;
2 Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore.
Iron from the dust is taken, And [from] the firm stone brass.
3 Man puts an end to the darkness; he probes the farthest recesses for ore in deepest darkness.
An end hath he set to darkness, And to all perfection he is searching, A stone of darkness and death-shade.
4 Far from human habitation he cuts a shaft in places forgotten by the foot of man. Far from men he dangles and sways.
A stream hath broken out from a sojourner, Those forgotten of the foot, They were low, from man they wandered.
5 Food may come from the earth, but from below it is transformed as by fire.
The earth! from it cometh forth bread, And its under-part is turned like fire.
6 Its rocks are the source of sapphires, containing flecks of gold.
A place of the sapphire [are] its stones, And it hath dust of gold.
7 No bird of prey knows that path; no falcon’s eye has seen it.
A path — not known it hath a ravenous fowl, Nor scorched it hath an eye of the kite,
8 Proud beasts have never trodden it; no lion has ever prowled over it.
Nor trodden it have the sons of pride, Not passed over it hath the fierce lion.
9 The miner strikes the flint; he overturns mountains at their base.
Against the flint he sent forth his hand, He overturned from the root mountains.
10 He hews out channels in the rocks, and his eyes spot every treasure.
Among rocks, brooks he hath cleaved, And every precious thing hath his eye seen.
11 He stops up the sources of the streams to bring what is hidden to light.
From overflowing floods he hath bound, And the hidden thing bringeth out [to] light.
12 But where can wisdom be found, and where does understanding dwell?
And the wisdom — whence is it found? And where [is] this, the place of understanding?
13 No man can know its value, 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 ocean depths say, ‘It is not in me,’ while the sea declares, ‘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 bought with gold, nor can its price be weighed out in silver.
Gold is not given for it, Nor is silver weighed — its price.
16 It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, in precious onyx or sapphire.
It is not valued with pure gold of Ophir, With precious onyx and sapphire,
17 Neither gold nor crystal can compare to it, nor jewels of fine gold be exchanged for it.
Not equal it do gold and crystal, Nor [is] its exchange a vessel of fine gold.
18 Coral and quartz are unworthy of mention; the price of wisdom is beyond rubies.
Corals and pearl are not remembered, The acquisition of wisdom [is] above rubies.
19 Topaz from Cush cannot compare to it, nor can it be valued in pure gold.
Not equal it doth the topaz of Cush, With pure gold it is not valued.
20 From where then does wisdom come, and where does understanding dwell?
And the wisdom — whence doth it come? And where [is] this, the place of understanding?
21 It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing and concealed from the birds of the air.
It hath been hid from the eyes of all living. And from the fowl of the heavens It hath been hidden.
22 Abaddon and Death say, ‘We have heard a rumor about it.’
Destruction and death have said: 'With our ears we have heard its fame.'
23 But God understands its way, and He knows its place.
God hath understood its way, And He hath known its place.
24 For He looks to the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens.
For He to the ends of the earth doth look, Under the whole heavens He doth see,
25 When God fixed the weight of the wind and measured out the waters,
To make for the wind a weight, And the waters He meted out in measure.
26 when He set a limit for the rain and a path for the thunderbolt,
In His making for the rain a limit, And a way for the brightness of the voices,
27 then He looked at wisdom and appraised it; He established it and searched it out.
Then He hath seen and declareth it, He hath prepared it, and also searched it out,
28 And He said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”
And He saith to man: — 'Lo, fear of the Lord, that [is] wisdom, And to turn from evil [is] understanding.'
