Job 28
1 Surely there is a mine for silver, a place where they refine gold.
Silver hath beginnings of its veins, and gold hath a place wherein it is melted.
2 Iron is taken out of the earth; copper is smelted out of the stone.
Iron is taken out of the earth, and stone melted with heat is turned into brass.
3 A man sets an end to darkness and searches out, to the farthest limit, the stones in obscurity and thick darkness.
He hath set a time for darkness, and the end of all things he considereth, the stone also that is in the dark and the shadow of death.
4 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.
The flood divideth from the people that are on their journey, those whom the food of the needy man hath forgotten, and who cannot be come at.
5 As for the earth, out of which comes bread, it is turned up below as if by fire.
The land, out of which bread grew in its place, hath been overturned with fire.
6 Its stones are the place where sapphires are found, and its dust contains gold.
The stones of it are the place of sapphires, and the clods of it are gold.
7 No bird of prey knows the path to it, nor has the falcon's eye seen it.
The bird hath not known the path, neither hath the eye of the vulture beheld it.
8 The proud animals have not walked such a path, nor has the fierce lion passed there.
The children of the merchants have not trodden it, neither hath the lioness passed by it.
9 A man lays his hand on the flinty rock; he overturns mountains by their roots.
He hath stretched forth his hand to the flint, he hath overturned mountains from the roots.
10 He cuts out channels among the rocks; his eye sees every valuable thing there.
In the rocks he hath cut out rivers, and his eye hath seen every precious thing.
11 He ties up the streams so they do not run; what is hidden there he brings out to the light.
The depths also of rivers he hath searched, and hidden things he hath brought forth to light.
12 Where will wisdom be found? Where is the place of understanding?
But where is wisdom to be found, and where is the place of understanding?
13 Man does not know its price; neither is it found in the land of the living.
Man knoweth not the price thereof, neither is it found in the land of them that live in delights.
14 The deep waters under the earth say, 'It is not in me'; the sea says, 'It is not with me.'
The depth saith: It is not in me: and the sea saith: It is not with me.
15 It cannot be gotten for gold; neither can silver be weighed as its price.
The finest gold shall not purchase it, neither shall silver be weighed in exchange for it.
16 It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with precious onyx or sapphire.
It shall not be compared with the dyed colours of India, or with the most precious stone sardonyx, or the sapphire.
17 Gold and crystal cannot equal it in worth; neither can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.
Gold or crystal cannot equal it, neither shall any vessels of gold be changed for it.
18 No mention is worth making of coral or jasper; indeed, the price of wisdom is more than rubies.
High and eminent things shall not be mentioned in comparison of it: but wisdom is drawn out of secret places.
19 The topaz of Cush does not equal it; neither can it be valued in terms of pure gold.
The topaz of Ethiopia shall not be equal to it, neither shall it be compared to the cleanest dyeing.
20 From where, then, comes wisdom? Where is the place of understanding?
Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding?
21 Wisdom is hidden from the eyes of all living things and is kept hidden from the birds of the heavens.
It is hid from the eyes of all living. and the fowls of the air know it not.
22 Destruction and Death say, 'We have heard just a rumor about it with our ears.'
Destruction and death have said: With our ears we have heard the fame thereof.
23 God understands the way to it; he knows its place.
God understandeth the way of it, and he knoweth the place thereof.
24 For he looks to the very ends of the earth and sees under all the heavens.
For he beholdeth the ends of the world: and looketh on all things that are under heaven.
25 He made the force of the wind and parceled out the waters by measure.
Who made a weight for the winds and weighed the waters by measure.
26 He made a decree for the rain and a path for the thunder.
When he gave a law for the rain, and a way for the sounding storms.
27 Then he saw wisdom and announced it; he established it, indeed, and he examined it.
Then he saw it, and declared, and prepared, and searched it.
28 To people he said, 'See, the fear of the Lord—that is wisdom; to depart from evil is understanding.'”
And he said to man: Behold the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom: and to depart from evil, is understanding.
