Job 28

1 “There is a place for silver, where it comes from,

and a place for gold, where it is refined.

2 Iron comes out of the earth,

and copper is quarried like stone.

3 He set an order for the darkness,

and he searches out every limit exactly:

the stone is darkness and the shadow of death.

4 There is a cutting of a stream bed, away from the dust;

and those who forget the righteous way have grown weak, far from other men.

5 As for the earth — out of it comes bread,

and underneath it was turned up as though by fire.

6 Its stones are the place of sapphire,

and its dust yields him gold.

7 There is a path no bird has known,

and the vulture’s eye has never looked at it;

8 the sons of boasters have not trodden it,

no lion has passed over it.

9 He stretched out his hand on the flinty rock

and overturned mountains from their roots;

10 he broke open the swirling pools of rivers,

and my eye has seen every precious thing;

11 he laid bare the depths of rivers

and brought his own power out into the light.

12 But where has wisdom been found?

And what is the place of knowledge?

13 No mortal has known her way,

and she is not to be found among men.

14 The Deep said, ‘She is not in me’;

and the Sea said, ‘She is not with me.’

15 No treasure shut away will be given in exchange for her,

and silver will not be weighed out as her price.

16 She will not be weighed against the gold of Ophir,

or against precious onyx and sapphire.

17 Gold and glass will not be made equal to her,

and vessels of gold are no exchange for her.

18 Things raised up, and gabis, will not be mentioned;

draw wisdom out from beyond the inmost places.

19 The topaz of Ethiopia will not be made equal to her;

she will not be weighed against pure gold.

20 Where, then, has wisdom been found?

And what is the place of understanding?

21 She has escaped the notice of every man,

and has been hidden from the birds of the sky.

22 Destruction and Death said,

‘We have heard the report of her.’

23 God has set her way well in order,

and he knows her place.

24 For he looks out over everything under heaven,

knowing all that is on the earth — everything he has made:

25 the weight of the winds, and the measures of the water.

26 When he made them so, he counted the rain,

and made a road for the voices in the shaking of the storm.

27 Then he saw her and set her out in words;

he made her ready and traced her to the end.

28 And he said to man, ‘Look — reverence for God is wisdom,

and keeping away from evil is knowledge.’”