Job 28
1 “Surely there is a source for silver, And a place for the gold they refine;
Surely there is a mine for silver, a place where they refine gold.
2 Iron is taken from the dust, And bronze [from] the firm stone.
Iron is taken out of the earth; copper is smelted out of the stone.
3 He has set an end to darkness, And he is searching to all perfection, A stone of darkness and death-shade.
A man sets an end to darkness and searches out, to the farthest limit, the stones in obscurity and thick darkness.
4 A stream has broken out from a sojourner, Those forgotten of the foot, They were low, they wandered from man.
He breaks open a shaft away from where people live, places that are forgotten by anyone's foot. He hangs far away from people; he swings to and fro.
5 The earth! Bread comes forth from it, And its under-part is turned like fire.
As for the earth, out of which comes bread, it is turned up below as if by fire.
6 A place of the sapphire [are] its stones, And it has dust of gold.
Its stones are the place where sapphires are found, and its dust contains gold.
7 A path—a ravenous bird has not known it, Nor has an eye of the falcon scorched it,
No bird of prey knows the path to it, nor has the falcon's eye seen it.
8 Nor have the sons of pride trodden it, The fierce lion has not passed over it.
The proud animals have not walked such a path, nor has the fierce lion passed there.
9 He sent forth his hand against the flint, He overturned mountains from the root.
A man lays his hand on the flinty rock; he overturns mountains by their roots.
10 Among rocks, he has cleaved brooks, And his eye has seen every precious thing.
He cuts out channels among the rocks; his eye sees every valuable thing there.
11 He has bound overflowing rivers, And the hidden thing brings out [to] light.
He ties up the streams so they do not run; what is hidden there he brings out to the light.
12 And the wisdom—from where is it found? And where [is] this, the place of understanding?
Where will wisdom be found? Where is the place of understanding?
13 Man has not known its arrangement, Nor is it found in the land of the living.
Man does not know its price; neither is it found in the land of the living.
14 The deep has said, It [is] not in me, And the sea has said, It is not with me.
The deep waters under the earth say, 'It is not in me'; the sea says, 'It is not with me.'
15 Gold is not given for it, Nor is silver weighed—its price.
It cannot be gotten for gold; neither can silver be weighed as its price.
16 It is not valued with pure gold of Ophir, With precious onyx and sapphire,
It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with precious onyx or sapphire.
17 Gold and crystal do not equal it, Nor [is] its exchange a vessel of fine gold.
Gold and crystal cannot equal it in worth; neither can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.
18 Corals and pearl are not remembered, The acquisition of wisdom [is] above rubies.
No mention is worth making of coral or jasper; indeed, the price of wisdom is more than rubies.
19 The topaz of Cush does not equal it, It is not valued with pure gold.
The topaz of Cush does not equal it; neither can it be valued in terms of pure gold.
20 And the wisdom—from where does it come? And where [is] this, the place of understanding?
From where, then, comes wisdom? Where is the place of understanding?
21 It has been hid from the eyes of all living. And from the bird of the heavens It has been hidden.
Wisdom is hidden from the eyes of all living things and is kept hidden from the birds of the heavens.
22 Destruction and death have said: With our ears we have heard its fame.
Destruction and Death say, 'We have heard just a rumor about it with our ears.'
23 God has understood its way, And He has known its place.
God understands the way to it; he knows its place.
24 For He looks to the ends of the earth, He sees under the whole heavens,
For he looks to the very ends of the earth and sees under all the heavens.
25 To make a weight for the wind, And He meted out the waters in measure.
He made the force of the wind and parceled out the waters by measure.
26 In His making for the rain a limit, And a way for the brightness of the voices,
He made a decree for the rain and a path for the thunder.
27 Then He has seen and declares it, He has prepared it, and also searched it out,
Then he saw wisdom and announced it; he established it, indeed, and he examined it.
28 And He says to man: Behold, fear of the Lord, that [is] wisdom, And to turn from evil [is] understanding.”
To people he said, 'See, the fear of the Lord—that is wisdom; to depart from evil is understanding.'”
