Job 28:1-22 ▼

1 “ Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place for the gold that they refine.

2 Iron is taken from the dust, and from rock copper is smelted.

3 An end he has set for the darkness, yet to every limit he is searching out, a stone in darkness and the shadow of death.

4 He opens a shaft away from habitation; those forgotten by the foot, they hang down away from man, and they sway.

5 The earth, from which bread comes forth, and underneath is turned as by fire—

6 a place of sapphire are its stones, and dust of gold is unto it.

7 The path no bird of prey knows, and no eye of a falcon has seen it.

8 The sons of pride have not trodden it, and the lion has not passed over it.

9 Against the flinty rock he stretched out his hand; he overturns the hills from the root.

10 In the rocks he cuts out channels, and his eye sees every precious thing.

11 The rivers he has bound from weeping, and a hidden thing he brings to light.

12 And wisdom—from where is it found? And where is this place of understanding?

13 Man does not know its value, and it is not found in the land of the living.

14 The deep says, ‘It is not in me,’ and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’

15 Gold cannot be given for it, nor can silver be weighed for its price.

16 It is not valued with the gold of Ophir, with precious onyx or sapphire.

17 Gold and crystal cannot equal it, or is its exchange a vessel of fine gold.

18 Coral and quartz are not to be mentioned; and the acquisition of wisdom is more than rubies.

19 The topaz of Cush cannot equal it, nor it is valued in pure gold.

20 And the wisdom, from where does it come? And where is this place of understanding?

21 And is it hidden from the eyes of every living thing; even from the birds of the heavens it is concealed.

22 Abaddon and Death say, ‘We have heard a report of it with our ears.’