Job 28:12–28

The Search for Wisdom Is Harder

¹²“But ^awhere can wisdom be found?

And where is the place of understanding?

¹³“^aMan does not know its value,

Nor is it found in the land of the living.

¹⁴“The deep says, ‘It is not in me’;

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

¹⁵“^aPure gold cannot be given in exchange for it,

Nor can silver be weighed as its price.

¹⁶“It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,

In precious onyx, or sapphire.

¹⁷“^aGold or glass cannot equal it,

Nor can it be exchanged for articles of fine gold.

¹⁸“Coral and crystal are not to be mentioned;

And the acquisition of ^awisdom is above that of pearls.

¹⁹“The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it,

Nor can it be valued in ^apure gold.

²⁰“^aWhere then does wisdom come from?

And where is the place of understanding?

²¹“Thus it is hidden from the eyes of all living

And concealed from the birds of the sky.

²²“^1aAbaddon and Death say,

‘With our ears we have heard a report of it.’

²³“^aGod understands its way,

And He knows its place.

²⁴“For He ^alooks to the ends of the earth

And sees everything under the heavens.

²⁵“When He imparted ^aweight to the wind

And ^bmeted out the waters by measure,

²⁶When He set a ^alimit for the rain

And a course for the ^bthunderbolt,

²⁷Then He saw it and declared it;

He established it and also searched it out.

²⁸“And to man He said, ‘Behold, the ^afear of the Lord, that is wisdom;

And to depart from evil is understanding.’ ”