Job 28
1 Surely there is for silver a source, And a place for the gold they refine;
Surely there is a mine for silver, a place where they refine gold.
2 Iron from the dust is taken, And [from] the firm stone brass.
Iron is taken out of the earth; copper is smelted out of the stone.
3 An end hath he set to darkness, And to all perfection he is searching, 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 hath broken out from a sojourner, Those forgotten of the foot, They were low, from man they wandered.
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! from it cometh forth bread, 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 hath dust of gold.
Its stones are the place where sapphires are found, and its dust contains gold.
7 A path — not known it hath a ravenous fowl, Nor scorched it hath an eye of the kite,
No bird of prey knows the path to it, nor has the falcon's eye seen it.
8 Nor trodden it have the sons of pride, Not passed over it hath the fierce lion.
The proud animals have not walked such a path, nor has the fierce lion passed there.
9 Against the flint he sent forth his hand, He overturned from the root mountains.
A man lays his hand on the flinty rock; he overturns mountains by their roots.
10 Among rocks, brooks he hath cleaved, And every precious thing hath his eye seen.
He cuts out channels among the rocks; his eye sees every valuable thing there.
11 From overflowing floods he hath bound, And the hidden thing bringeth 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 — whence is it found? And where [is] this, the place of understanding?
Where will wisdom be found? Where is the place of understanding?
13 Man hath 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 hath said, 'It [is] not in me,' And the sea hath 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 Not equal it do gold and crystal, 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 Not equal it doth the topaz of Cush, With pure gold it is not valued.
The topaz of Cush does not equal it; neither can it be valued in terms of pure gold.
20 And the wisdom — whence doth it come? And where [is] this, the place of understanding?
From where, then, comes wisdom? Where is the place of understanding?
21 It hath been hid from the eyes of all living. And from the fowl of the heavens It hath 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 hath understood its way, And He hath known its place.
God understands the way to it; he knows its place.
24 For He to the ends of the earth doth look, Under the whole heavens He doth see,
For he looks to the very ends of the earth and sees under all the heavens.
25 To make for the wind a weight, And the waters He meted out 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 hath seen and declareth it, He hath 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 saith to man: — 'Lo, 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.'”
