Job 28:1-28 - Job's Discourse On Wisdom

¹ "Indeed, there is a mine for silver and a place {for gold to be refined}. ² Iron is taken from dust, and he pours out copper [from] ore. ³ He puts an end to darkness, and he searches out the farthest limits [for the] ore [in] gloom and deep shadow. ⁴ He breaks open a mine shaft {away from where people dwell}; [those] who are forgotten {by travelers}, they dangle, they sway [far away] from human beings. ⁵ [As for the] earth, from it comes food, but underneath it, it is turned up as [by] fire. ⁶ Its stones [are the] place of sapphire, and [the] earthen dirt {has} gold. ⁷ "[It is] a path a bird of prey does not know and [the] black kite's eye has not seen. ⁸ {Proud wild animals} have not trodden it; [the] lion in its prime has not prowled over it. ⁹ He puts his hand on the hard rock; he overturns mountains by [the] roots. ¹⁰ He cuts out tunnels in the rocks, and his eye sees every treasure. ¹¹ He dams up rivers from [their] sources, and he brings secret things to [the] light.

¹² "But from where will wisdom be found? And {where in the world} [is the] place of understanding? ¹³ A human being does not know its proper value, 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 "Refined gold cannot be gotten in its place, and silver cannot be weighed out [as] its price. ¹⁶ It cannot be bought for the gold of Ophir, for precious onyx or sapphire. ¹⁷ Gold and glass cannot be compared with it, and its substitution [cannot be] an ornament of refined gold. ¹⁸ Black corals and crystal will not be mentioned, and wisdom's price [is] more than red corals. ¹⁹ The topaz of Cush cannot be compared with it; it cannot be bought for pure gold.

²⁰ Indeed, from where does wisdom come? And {where in the world} [is the] place of understanding? ²¹ It is hidden from [the] eyes of all living, and it is concealed from [the] birds of the heaven. ²² Abaddon and Death say, 'We heard its rumor with our ears.' ²³ "God understands its way, and he knows its place, ²⁴ for he himself looks to [the] end of the earth; he sees under all the heaven. ²⁵ {When he gave} weight to the wind and he apportioned [the] waters by measure, ²⁶ {when he made} a rule for the rain and a way for [the] thunder's lightning bolt, ²⁷ then he saw it and talked about it; he established it, and moreover, he explored it. ²⁸ And to the human beings he said, 'Look, the fear of the Lord [is] wisdom, and to depart from evil [is] understanding.'"