Job 28

¹“Surely there is a mine for silver,
and a place for gold that they refine.

²Iron is taken out of the earth,
and copper is smelted from the ore.

³Man puts an end to darkness
and searches out to the farthest limit
the ore in gloom and deep darkness.

⁴He 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.

⁵As for the earth, out of it comes bread,
but underneath it is turned up as by fire.

⁶Its stones are the place of sapphires,
and it has dust of gold.

⁷“That path no bird of prey knows,
and the falcon’s eye has not seen it.

⁸ The proud beasts have not trodden it;
the lion has not passed over it.

⁹“Man puts his hand to the flinty rock
and overturns mountains by the roots.

¹⁰He cuts out channels in the rocks,
and his eye sees every precious thing.

¹¹He dams up the streams so that they do not trickle,
and the thing that is hidden he brings out to light.

¹² “But where shall wisdom be found?
And where is the place of understanding?

¹³Man does not know its worth,
and it is not 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.’

¹⁵It cannot be bought for gold,
and silver cannot be weighed as its price.

¹⁶It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,
in precious onyx or sapphire.

¹⁷Gold and glass cannot equal it,
nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.

¹⁸No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal;
the price of wisdom is above pearls.

¹⁹ The 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?

²¹It is hidden from the eyes of all living
and concealed from the birds of the air.

²² Abaddon and Death say,
‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.’

²³ “God understands the way to it,
and he knows its place.

²⁴For he looks to the ends of the earth
and sees everything under the heavens.

²⁵When he gave to the wind its weight
and apportioned the waters by measure,

²⁶when he made a decree for the rain
and a way for the lightning of the thunder,

²⁷then he saw it and declared it;
he established it, and searched it out.

²⁸And he said to man,
‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,
and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”

source