Job 28

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

2Iron is taken from the dust, and copper is smelted from stone.

3He sets an end to darkness, and to the farthest limit he searches out the stone of gloom and deep darkness.

4He breaks open a shaft away from where people dwell; forgotten by passing feet, they hang far from others and sway.

5As for the earth, bread comes from it, but beneath it is overturned as by fire.

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

7A path no bird of prey knows, and the eye of a bird of prey has not seen it.

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

9He puts his hand to the flint; he overturns mountains from their roots.

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

11He binds back the streams from seeping and brings what is hidden out into the light.

12But where can wisdom be found, and where is the place of understanding?

13No human knows its worth, and it is not found in the land of the living.

14The deep says, ‘It is not in me,’ and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’

15Fine gold cannot be given in exchange for it, nor can silver be weighed out as its price.

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

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

18Coral and crystal are not worth mentioning, and acquiring wisdom is better than pearls.

19The topaz of Cush cannot equal it; it cannot be valued against pure gold.

20But wisdom—from where does it come? And where is the place of understanding?

21It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing and concealed from the birds of the sky.

22Destruction and Death say, “With our ears we have heard a report of it.”

23God understands its way, and he knows its place.

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

25when he gave the wind its weight and measured out the waters,

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

27Then he saw it and declared it; he established it and also searched it out.

28And he said to humankind, “Indeed, the fear of the Lord—that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.”