Job 28:12–28

¹²“But where can wisdom be found,

and where does understanding live?

¹³People do not understand the value of wisdom;

it cannot be found among those who are alive.

¹⁴The deep ocean says, ‘It’s not in me;’

the sea says, ‘It’s not in me.’

¹⁵Wisdom cannot be bought with gold,

and its cost cannot be weighed in silver.

¹⁶Wisdom cannot be bought with fine gold

or with valuable onyx or sapphire gems.

¹⁷Gold and crystal are not as valuable as wisdom,

and you cannot buy it with jewels of gold.

¹⁸Coral and jasper are not worth talking about,

and the price of wisdom is much greater than rubies.

¹⁹The topaz from Cush cannot compare to wisdom;

it cannot be bought with the purest gold.

²⁰“So where does wisdom come from,

and where does understanding live?

²¹It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing,

even from the birds of the air.

²²The places of destruction and death say,

‘We have heard reports about it.’

²³Only God understands the way to wisdom,

and he alone knows where it lives,

²⁴because he looks to the farthest parts of the earth

and sees everything under the sky.

²⁵When God gave power to the wind

and measured the water,

²⁶when he made rules for the rain

and set a path for a thunderstorm to follow,

²⁷then he looked at wisdom and decided its worth;

he set wisdom up and tested it.

²⁸Then he said to humans,

‘The fear of the Lord is wisdom;

to stay away from evil is understanding.’ ”