Job 28 / 42
- 1
(Job Continues: Where Is Wisdom?)
"Surely there is a mine for silver,
and a place for gold that they refine.
- 2
Iron is taken out of the earth,
and copper is smelted from the ore.
- 3
Man puts an end to darkness
and searches out to the farthest limit
the ore in gloom and deep darkness.
- 4
He 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.
- 5
As for the earth, out of it comes bread,
but underneath it is turned up as by fire.
- 6
Its 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.
- 10
He cuts out channels in the rocks,
and his eye sees every precious thing.
- 11
He 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?
- 13
Man 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.'
- 15
It cannot be bought for gold,
and silver cannot be weighed as its price.
- 16
It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,
in precious onyx or sapphire.
- 17
Gold and glass cannot equal it,
nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.
- 18
No 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?
- 21
It 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.
- 24
For he looks to the ends of the earth
and sees everything under the heavens.
- 25
When he gave to the wind its weight
and apportioned the waters by measure,
- 26
when he made a decree for the rain
and a way for the lightning of the thunder,
- 27
then he saw it and declared it;
he established it, and searched it out.
- 28
And he said to man,
'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,
and to turn away from evil is understanding.'"