Job Continues: Where Is Wisdom?

28 “Surely there is a mine for silver,

and a place for gold that they yrefine.

2  Iron is taken out of the earth,

and copper is smelted from the ore.

3  Man puts an end to darkness

and searches out to the farthest limit

the ore in zgloom and adeep darkness.

4  He opens shafts in a valley away from where anyone lives;

they are forgotten by travelers;

they hang in the air, far away from mankind; they swing to and fro.

5  As for the earth, bout of it comes bread,

but underneath it is turned up as by fire.

6  Its stones are the place of csapphires,1

and it has dust of gold.

7  “That path no bird of prey knows,

and the falcon’s eye has not seen it.

8  dThe proud beasts have not trodden it;

ethe lion has not passed over it.

9  “Man puts his hand to fthe flinty rock

and overturns mountains by the roots.

10  He cuts out channels in the rocks,

and his eye sees every precious thing.

11  He dams up the streams so that they do not trickle,

and the thing that is hidden he brings out to light.

12  g“But where shall wisdom be found?

And where is the place of understanding?

13  Man does not know its worth,

and it is not found in hthe land of the living.

14  iThe deep says, ‘It is not in me,’

and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’

15  It jcannot be bought for gold,

and silver cannot be weighed as its price.

16  It cannot be valued in kthe gold of lOphir,

in precious monyx or nsapphire.

17  Gold and glass cannot equal it,

nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.

18  No mention shall be made of ocoral or of crystal;

the price of wisdom is above oppearls.

19  qThe topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it,

nor can it be valued in pure gold.

20  “From where, then, does wisdom come?

And where is the place of understanding?

21  It is hidden from the eyes of rall living

and concealed from the birds of the air.

22  sAbaddon and Death say,

‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.’

23  t“God understands the way to it,

and he knows its place.

24  For he ulooks to the ends of the earth

and sees everything under the heavens.

25  When he vgave to the wind its weight

and apportioned the waters by measure,

26  when he made a decree for the rain

and wa way for the lightning of the thunder,

27  then he saw it and declared it;

he established it, and searched it out.

28  And he said to man,

‘Behold, xthe fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,

and to yturn away from evil is understanding.’ ”