Job 28:20–27

“From where, then, does wisdom come?

And where is the place of understanding?

It is hidden from the eyes of all living

and concealed from the birds of the air.

Abaddon and Death say,

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

“God understands the way to it,

and he knows its place.

For he looks to the ends of the earth

and sees everything under the heavens.

When he gave to the wind its weight

and apportioned the waters by measure,

when he made a decree for the rain

and a way for the lightning of the thunder,

then he saw it and declared it;

he established it, and searched it out.

Where then does wisdom come from?

Where does understanding dwell?

It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing,

concealed even from the birds in the sky.

Destruction and Death say,

“Only a rumor of it has reached our ears.”

God understands the way to it

and he alone knows where it dwells,

for he views the ends of the earth

and sees everything under the heavens.

When he established the force of the wind

and measured out the waters,

when he made a decree for the rain

and a path for the thunderstorm,

then he looked at wisdom and appraised it;

he confirmed it and tested it.

Where then does wisdom come from,

and where is understanding located?

It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing

and concealed from the birds of the sky.

Abaddon and Death say,

“We have heard news of it with our ears.”

But God understands the way to wisdom,

and he knows its location.

For he looks to the ends of the earth

and sees everything under the heavens.

When God fixed the weight of the wind

and distributed the water by measure,

when he established a limit for the rain

and a path for the lightning,

he considered wisdom and evaluated it;

he established it and examined it.

“But do people know where to find wisdom?

Where can they find understanding?

It is hidden from the eyes of all humanity.

Even the sharp-eyed birds in the sky cannot discover it.

Destruction and Death say,

‘We’ve heard only rumors of where wisdom can be found.’

“God alone understands the way to wisdom;

he knows where it can be found,

for he looks throughout the whole earth

and sees everything under the heavens.

He decided how hard the winds should blow

and how much rain should fall.

He made the laws for the rain

and laid out a path for the lightning.

Then he saw wisdom and evaluated it.

He set it in place and examined it thoroughly.

Indeed, from where does wisdom come?

And where in the world is the place of understanding?

It is hidden from the eyes of all living,

and it is concealed from the birds of the heaven.

Abaddon and Death say,

‘We heard its rumor with our ears.’

“God understands its way,

and he knows its place,

for he himself looks to the end of the earth;

he sees under all the heaven.

When he gave weight to the wind

and he apportioned the waters by measure,

when he made a rule for the rain

and a way for the thunder’s lightning bolt,

then he saw it and talked about it;

he established it, and moreover, he explored it.

Whence then cometh wisdom?

And where is the place of understanding?

Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living,

And kept close from the fowls of the air.

Destruction and death say,

We have heard the fame thereof with our ears.

God understandeth the way thereof,

And he knoweth the place thereof.

For he looketh to the ends of the earth,

And seeth under the whole heaven;

To make the weight for the winds;

And he weigheth the waters by measure.

When he made a decree for the rain,

And a way for the lightning of the thunder:

Then did he see it, and declare it;

He prepared it, yea, and searched it out.