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 smelted out of the ore.
3 Man sets an end to darkness,
and searches out, to the furthest bound,
the stones of obscurity and of thick darkness.
4 He breaks open a shaft away from where people live.
They are forgotten by the foot.
They hang far from men, they swing back and forth.
5 As for the earth, out of it comes bread.
Underneath it is turned up as it were by fire.
6 Sapphires come from its rocks.
It has dust of gold.
7 That path no bird of prey knows,
neither has the falcon’s eye seen it.
8 The proud animals have not trodden it,
nor has the fierce lion passed by there.
9 He puts his hand on the flinty rock,
and he overturns the mountains by the roots.
10 He cuts out channels among the rocks.
His eye sees every precious thing.
11 He binds the streams that they don’t trickle.
The thing that is hidden he brings out to light.
12 "But where will wisdom be found?
Where is the place of understanding?
13 Man doesn’t know its price,
and it isn’t found in the land of the living.
14 The deep says, ‘It isn’t in me.’
The sea says, ‘It isn’t with me.’
15 It can’t be gotten for gold,
neither will silver be weighed for its price.
16 It can’t be valued with the gold of Ophir,
with the precious onyx, or the sapphire.
17 Gold and glass can’t equal it,
neither will it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.
18 No mention will be made of coral or of crystal.
Yes, the price of wisdom is above rubies.
19 The topaz of Ethiopia will not equal it.
It won’t be valued with pure gold.
20 Where then does wisdom come from?
Where is the place of understanding?
21 Seeing it is hidden from the eyes of all living,
and kept close from the birds of the sky.
22 Destruction and Death say,
‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.’
23 "God understands its way,
and he knows its place.
24 For he looks to the ends of the earth,
and sees under the whole sky.
25 He establishes the force of the wind.
Yes, he measures 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 he saw it, and declared it.
He established it, yes, and searched it out.
28 To man he said,
‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom.
To depart from evil is understanding.’"
1 Surely there is a mine for the silver, and a place for gold [where] they refine [it].
2 Iron is taken out of the dust, and bronze [is] melted [out of] the stone.
3 He set a border unto the darkness, and unto every perfect work that he made, he [placed] a stone of darkness and shadow of death.
4 The river breaks forth next to the inhabitant; [even the waters] forgotten of the foot, that were higher than man, are gone away.
5 Land out of which bread comes forth, and underneath it shall be as [if] it were converted in fire.
6 A place where its stones shall be sapphires; and it shall have dust of gold.
7 A path which no fowl knows and which the vulture's eye has never seen;
8 the young of the proud have not trodden it, nor has the fierce lion passed by it.
9 He put his hand upon the flint and overturned the mountains from the root.
10 He cut rivers out of the rocks; and his eye saw every precious thing.
11 He detained the rivers in their source and caused that which was hid to be brought to light.
12 But where shall wisdom be found? And where [is] the place of understanding?
13 Man never knew its price; 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] its price.
16 It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx or the sapphire.
17 Gold cannot equal it, nor can diamond; neither shall it be exchanged for vessels of fine gold.
18 No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls; for wisdom is better than precious stones.
19 The emerald of Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither shall it be valued with pure gold.
20 Where then does wisdom come from? And where [is] the place of understanding?
21 Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living and kept concealed from every fowl of the heaven.
22 Hell and death say, We have heard its fame with our ears.
23 God understands its way, and he [alone] knows its place.
24 For he looks unto the ends of the earth [and] sees under the whole heaven,
25 To make a weight for the wind and to supply water by measure,
26 when he made a law for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunders.
27 Then he saw it and counted it; he prepared it and also searched it out.
28 And unto man he said, Behold, that the fear of the Lord, [is] wisdom; and to depart from evil [is] understanding.: