Job 28

1“Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place for gold which they refine. 2and copper is smelted out of the ore. Iron is taken out of the earth, 3and searches out, to the furthest bound, the stones of obscurity and of thick darkness. Man sets an end to darkness, 4They are forgotten by the foot. They hang far from men, they swing back and forth. He breaks open a shaft away from where people live. 5Underneath it is turned up as it were by fire. As for the earth, out of it comes bread; 6It has dust of gold. Sapphires come from its rocks. 7neither has the falcon’s eye seen it. That path no bird of prey knows, 8nor has the fierce lion passed by there. The proud animals have not trodden it, 9and he overturns the mountains by the roots. He puts his hand on the flinty rock, 10His eye sees every precious thing. He cuts out channels among the rocks. 11The thing that is hidden he brings out to light. He binds the streams that they don’t trickle. 12Where is the place of understanding? “But where shall wisdom be found? 13Neither is it found in the land of the living. Man doesn’t know its price; 14The sea says, ‘It isn’t with me.’ The deep says, ‘It isn’t in me.’ 15neither shall silver be weighed for its price. It can’t be gotten for gold, 16* It can’t be valued with the gold of Ophir, 17neither shall it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold. Gold and glass can’t equal it, 18Yes, the price of wisdom is above rubies. No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal. 19Neither shall it be valued with pure gold. The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, 20Where is the place of understanding? Where then does wisdom come from? 21and kept close from the birds of the sky. Seeing it is hidden from the eyes of all living, 22‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.’ Destruction and Death say, 23and he knows its place. “God understands its way, 24and sees under the whole sky. For he looks to the ends of the earth, 25Yes, he measures out the waters by measure. He establishes the force of the wind. 26and a way for the lightning of the thunder; When he made a decree for the rain, 27He established it, yes, and searched it out. then he saw it, and declared it. 28* that is wisdom. To depart from evil is understanding.’” To man he said,