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