- 1“Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place for gold which they refine.
- 2Iron is taken out of the earth, and copper is smelted out of the ore.
- 3Man sets an end to darkness, and searches out, to the furthest bound, the stones of obscurity and of thick darkness.
- 4He breaks open a shaft away from where people live. They are forgotten by the foot. They hang far from men, they swing back and forth.
- 5As for the earth, out of it comes bread; Underneath it is turned up as it were by fire.
- 6Sapphires come from its rocks. It has dust of gold.
- 7That path no bird of prey knows, neither has the falcon’s eye seen it.
- 8The proud animals have not trodden it, nor has the fierce lion passed by there.
- 9He puts his hand on the flinty rock, and he overturns the mountains by the roots.
- 10He cuts out channels among the rocks. His eye sees every precious thing.
- 11He binds the streams that they don’t trickle. The thing that is hidden he brings out to light.
- 12“But where shall wisdom be found? Where is the place of understanding?
- 13Man doesn’t know its price; Neither is it found in the land of the living.
- 14The deep says, ‘It isn’t in me.’ The sea says, ‘It isn’t with me.’
- 15It can’t be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for its price.
- 16It can’t be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire.
- 17Gold and glass can’t equal it, neither shall it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.
- 18No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal. Yes, the price of wisdom is above rubies.
- 19The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, Neither shall it be valued with pure gold.
- 20Where then does wisdom come from? Where is the place of understanding?
- 21Seeing it is hidden from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the birds of the sky.
- 22Destruction and Death say, ‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.’
- 23“God understands its way, and he knows its place.
- 24For he looks to the ends of the earth, and sees under the whole sky.
- 25He establishes the force of the wind. Yes, he measures out the waters by measure.
- 26When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder;
- 27then he saw it, and declared it. He established it, yes, and searched it out.
- 28To man he said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom. To depart from evil is understanding.’”