Job 28

^{Job 28:1} “Surely there is a mine for silver and a place where gold is refined.

^{Job 28:2} Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore.

^{Job 28:3} Man puts an end to the darkness; he probes the farthest recesses for ore in deepest darkness.

^{Job 28:4} Far from human habitation he cuts a shaft in places forgotten by the foot of man. Far from men he dangles and sways.

^{Job 28:5} Food may come from the earth, but from below it is transformed as by fire.

^{Job 28:6} Its rocks are the source of sapphires, containing flecks of gold.

^{Job 28:7} No bird of prey knows that path; no falcon’s eye has seen it.

^{Job 28:8} Proud beasts have never trodden it; no lion has ever prowled over it.

^{Job 28:9} The miner strikes the flint; he overturns mountains at their base.

^{Job 28:10} He hews out channels in the rocks, and his eyes spot every treasure.

^{Job 28:11} He stops up the sources of the streams to bring what is hidden to light.

^{Job 28:12} But where can wisdom be found, and where does understanding dwell?

^{Job 28:13} No man can know its value, nor is it found in the land of the living.

^{Job 28:14} The ocean depths say, ‘It is not in me,’ while the sea declares, ‘It is not with me.’

^{Job 28:15} It cannot be bought with gold, nor can its price be weighed out in silver.

^{Job 28:16} It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, in precious onyx or sapphire.

^{Job 28:17} Neither gold nor crystal can compare to it, nor jewels of fine gold be exchanged for it.

^{Job 28:18} Coral and quartz are unworthy of mention; the price of wisdom is beyond rubies.

^{Job 28:19} Topaz from Cush cannot compare to it, nor can it be valued in pure gold.

^{Job 28:20} From where then does wisdom come, and where does understanding dwell?

^{Job 28:21} It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing and concealed from the birds of the air.

^{Job 28:22} Abaddon and Death say, ‘We have heard a rumor about it.’

^{Job 28:23} But God understands its way, and He knows its place.

^{Job 28:24} For He looks to the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens.

^{Job 28:25} When God fixed the weight of the wind and measured out the waters,

^{Job 28:26} when He set a limit for the rain and a path for the thunderbolt,

^{Job 28:27} then He looked at wisdom and appraised it; He established it and searched it out.

^{Job 28:28} And He said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”