Job 28:1-13 ▼

1 “Surely there is a mine for silver and a place where gold is refined.

2 Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore.

3 Man puts an end to the darkness; he probes the farthest recesses for ore in deepest darkness.

4 Far from human habitation he cuts a shaft in places forgotten by the foot of man. Far from men he dangles and sways.

5 Food may come from the earth, but from below it is transformed as by fire.

6 Its rocks are the source of sapphires, containing flecks of gold.

7 No bird of prey knows that path; no falcon’s eye has seen it.

8 Proud beasts have never trodden it; no lion has ever prowled over it.

9 The miner strikes the flint; he overturns mountains at their base.

10 He hews out channels in the rocks, and his eyes spot every treasure.

11 He stops up the sources of the streams to bring what is hidden to light.

12 But where can wisdom be found, and where does understanding dwell?

13 No man can know its value, nor is it found in the land of the living.