1Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place for gold that they refine.
2Iron is taken from the dust, and copper is smelted from stone.
3He sets an end to darkness, and to every limit he searches out — the stone of gloom and deep shadow.
4He breaks open a shaft far from where anyone dwells, in places forgotten by any foot; far from people they dangle, they sway.
5As for the earth — from it comes food, but underneath it is turned up as by fire.
6Its stones are the place of sapphire, and it holds dust of gold.
7A path no bird of prey knows, and the falcon’s eye has not spied it out.
8The proud beasts have not trodden it; no lion has passed over it.
9He sets his hand against the flint; he overturns the mountains from their roots.
10In the rocks he cuts channels, and his eye sees every precious thing.
11He binds up the sources of the rivers, and brings the hidden thing out to light.
12But wisdom — where can it be found? And where is the place of understanding?
13No mortal knows its worth, and it is not found in the land of the living.
14The deep says, ‘It is not in me,’ and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
15Fine gold cannot be given for it, nor can silver be weighed out as its price.
16It cannot be valued against the gold of Ophir, against precious onyx or sapphire.
17Gold and glass cannot equal it, nor can it be exchanged for a vessel of fine gold.
18Coral and crystal are not to be mentioned, and the acquiring of wisdom is above pearls.
19The topaz of Cush cannot equal it; it cannot be valued against pure gold.
20So where does wisdom come from? And where is the place of understanding?
21It is hidden from the eyes of all living, and concealed from the birds of the sky.
22Abaddon and Death say, ‘With our ears we have heard a report of it.’
23God understands its way, and he knows its place.
24For he looks to the ends of the earth; he sees all that is under the heavens.
25When he made a weight for the wind and measured out the waters by measure,
26when he made a decree for the rain and a way for the thunderbolt,
27then he saw it and declared it; he established it and also searched it out.
28And he said to humankind, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord — that is wisdom, and to turn from evil is understanding.’
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