1 Surely there is a mine for silver,

And a place for gold which they refine.

2 Iron is taken out of the earth,

And copper is molten out of the stone.

3 Man setteth an end to darkness,

And searcheth out, to the furthest bound,

The stones of obscurity and of thick darkness.

4 He breaketh open a shaft away from where men sojourn;

They are forgotten of the foot;

They hang afar from men, they swing to and fro.

5 As for the earth, out of it cometh bread;

And underneath it is turned up as it were by fire.

6 The stones thereof are the place of sapphires,

And it hath dust of gold.

7 That path no bird of prey knoweth,

Neither hath the falcon’s eye seen it:

8 The proud beasts have not trodden it,

Nor hath the fierce lion passed thereby.

9 He putteth forth his hand upon the flinty rock;

He overturneth the mountains by the roots.

10 He cutteth out channels among the rocks;

And his eye seeth every precious thing.

11 He bindeth the streams that they trickle not;

And the thing that is hid bringeth he forth to light.

12 But where shall wisdom be found?

And where is the place of understanding?

13 Man knoweth not the price thereof;

Neither is it found in the land of the living.

14 The deep saith, It is not in me;

And the sea saith, It is not with me.

15 It cannot be gotten for gold,

Neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof.

16 It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir,

With the precious onyx, or the sapphire.

17 Gold and glass cannot equal it,

Neither shall it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.

18 No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal:

Yea, the price of wisdom is above rubies.

19 The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it,

Neither shall it be valued with pure gold.

20 Whence then cometh wisdom?

And where is the place of understanding?

21 Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living,

And kept close from the birds of the heavens.

22 Destruction and Death say,

We have heard a rumor thereof with our ears.

23 God understandeth the way thereof,

And he knoweth the place thereof.

24 For he looketh to the ends of the earth,

And seeth under the whole heaven;

25 To make a weight for the wind:

Yea, he meteth out the waters by measure.

26 When he made a decree for the rain,

And a way for the lightning of the thunder;

27 Then did he see it, and declare it;

He established it, yea, and searched it out.

28 And unto man he said,

Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;

And to depart from evil is understanding.

1 Surely there is for silver a source, And a place for the gold they refine;

2 Iron from the dust is taken, And [from] the firm stone brass.

3 An end hath he set to darkness, And to all perfection he is searching, A stone of darkness and death-shade.

4 A stream hath broken out from a sojourner, Those forgotten of the foot, They were low, from man they wandered.

5 The earth! from it cometh forth bread, And its under-part is turned like fire.

6 A place of the sapphire [are] its stones, And it hath dust of gold.

7 A path -- not known it hath a ravenous fowl, Nor scorched it hath an eye of the kite,

8 Nor trodden it have the sons of pride, Not passed over it hath the fierce lion.

9 Against the flint he sent forth his hand, He overturned from the root mountains.

10 Among rocks, brooks he hath cleaved, And every precious thing hath his eye seen.

11 From overflowing floods he hath bound, And the hidden thing bringeth out [to] light.

12 And the wisdom -- whence is it found? And where [is] this, the place of understanding?

13 Man hath not known its arrangement, Nor is it found in the land of the living.

14 The deep hath said, `It [is] not in me,` And the sea hath said, `It is not with me.`

15 Gold is not given for it, Nor is silver weighed -- its price.

16 It is not valued with pure gold of Ophir, With precious onyx and sapphire,

17 Not equal it do gold and crystal, Nor [is] its exchange a vessel of fine gold.

18 Corals and pearl are not remembered, The acquisition of wisdom [is] above rubies.

19 Not equal it doth the topaz of Cush, With pure gold it is not valued.

20 And the wisdom -- whence doth it come? And where [is] this, the place of understanding?

21 It hath been hid from the eyes of all living. And from the fowl of the heavens It hath been hidden.

22 Destruction and death have said: `With our ears we have heard its fame.`

23 God hath understood its way, And He hath known its place.

24 For He to the ends of the earth doth look, Under the whole heavens He doth see,

25 To make for the wind a weight, And the waters He meted out in measure.

26 In His making for the rain a limit, And a way for the brightness of the voices,

27 Then He hath seen and declareth it, He hath prepared it, and also searched it out,

28 And He saith to man: -- `Lo, fear of the Lord, that [is] wisdom, And to turn from evil [is] understanding.`