Job 28:12–28

¹²“But^h from where will wisdom be found?

And where in the worldⁱ is the place of understanding?

¹³A human being does not know its proper value,

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

¹⁴The deep says, ‘It is not in me,’

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

¹⁵“Refined gold cannot be gotten in its place,

and silver cannot be weighed out as its price.

¹⁶It cannot be bought for the gold of Ophir,

for precious onyx or^j sapphire.

¹⁷Gold and glass cannot be compared with it,

and its substitution cannot be an ornament of refined gold.

¹⁸Black corals and crystal will not be mentioned,

and wisdom’s price is more than red corals.

¹⁹The topaz of Cush cannot be compared with it;

it cannot be bought for pure gold.

²⁰Indeed,^k from where does wisdom come?

And where in the world^l is the place of understanding?

²¹It is hidden from the eyes of all living,

and it is concealed from the birds of the heaven.

²²Abaddon and Death say,

‘We heard its rumor with our ears.’

²³“God understands its way,

and he knows its place,

²⁴for he himself^m looks to the end of the earth;

he sees under all the heaven.

²⁵When he gaveⁿ weight to the wind

and he apportioned the waters by measure,

²⁶when he made^o a rule for the rain

and a way for the thunder’s lightning bolt,

²⁷then he saw it and talked about it;

he established it, and moreover, he explored it.

²⁸And to the human beings he said,

‘Look, the fear of the Lord is wisdom,

and to depart from evil is understanding.’ ”