JOB 28 [†] “Surely there is a mine for silver,

and a place for gold that they  y 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  z gloom and  a 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,  b out of it comes bread,

but underneath it is turned up as by fire.

6 Its stones are the place of  c sapphires, [1]

and it has dust of gold.

7[†] “That path no bird of prey knows,

and the falcon’s eye has not seen it.

8  d The proud beasts have not trodden it;

 e the lion has not passed over it.

9 “Man puts his hand to  f 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[^][†]  g “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  h the land of the living.

14  i The deep says, ‘It is not in me,’

and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’

15[†] It  j cannot be bought for gold,

and silver cannot be weighed as its price.

16 It cannot be valued in  k the gold of  l Ophir,

in precious  m onyx or  n 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  o coral or of crystal;

the price of wisdom is above  o  p pearls.

19  q 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  r all living

and concealed from the birds of the air.

22[†]  s Abaddon and Death say,

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

23[†]  t “God understands the way to it,

and he knows its place.

24 For he  u looks to the ends of the earth

and sees everything under the heavens.

25 When he  v gave to the wind its weight

and apportioned the waters by measure,

26 when he made a decree for the rain

and  w 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,  x the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,

and to  y turn away from evil is understanding.’”