Chapter 28

Where Can Wisdom Be Found?

¹“Surely there is a mine for silver

and a place where gold is refined.

²Iron is taken from the earth,

and copper is smelted from ore.

³Man puts an end to the darkness;

he probes the farthest recesses

for ore in deepest darkness.

⁴Far from human habitation he cuts a shaft

in places forgotten by the foot of man.

Far from men he dangles and sways.

⁵Food may come from the earth,

but from below it is transformed as by fire.

⁶Its rocks are the source of sapphires,

containing flecks of gold.

⁷No bird of prey knows that path;

no falcon’s eye has seen it.

⁸Proud beasts have never trodden it;

no lion has ever prowled over it.

⁹The miner strikes the flint;

he overturns mountains at their base.

¹⁰He hews out channels in the rocks,

and his eyes spot every treasure.

¹¹He stops up^a the sources of the streams

to bring what is hidden to light.

¹²But where can wisdom be found,

and where does understanding dwell?

¹³No man can know its value,

nor is it found in the land of the living.

¹⁴The ocean depths say, ‘It is not in me,’

while the sea declares, ‘It is not with me.’

¹⁵It cannot be bought with gold,

nor can its price be weighed out in silver.

¹⁶It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,

in precious onyx or sapphire.

¹⁷Neither gold nor crystal can compare to it,

nor jewels of fine gold be exchanged for it.

¹⁸Coral and quartz are unworthy of mention;

the price of wisdom is beyond rubies.

¹⁹Topaz from Cush^b cannot compare to it,

nor can it be valued in pure gold.

²⁰From where then does wisdom come,

and where does understanding dwell?

²¹It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing

and concealed from the birds of the air.

²²Abaddon^c and Death say,

‘We have heard a rumor about it.’

²³But God understands its way,

and He knows its place.

²⁴For He looks to the ends of the earth

and sees everything under the heavens.

²⁵When God fixed the weight of the wind

and measured out the waters,

²⁶when He set a limit for the rain

and a path for the thunderbolt,

²⁷then He looked at wisdom and appraised it;

He established it and searched it out.

²⁸And He said to man, ‘Behold,

the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,

and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”