Job 28 — Legacy Standard Bible

Where Can Wisdom Be Found?

28“¹Surely there is a ²mine for silver,And a place ³where they refine for gold.²“Iron is taken from the dust,And copper is smelted from rock.³“Man puts an end to darkness,And ^ato the farthest limit he searches outThe rock in thick darkness and shadow of death.⁴“He ¹sinks a shaft far from ²habitation,Forgotten by the foot;They hang and swing to and fro far from men.⁵“The earth, from it comes food,And underneath it is overturned as fire.⁶“Its rocks are the ¹source of sapphires,And its dust contains gold.⁷“The path no bird of prey knows,Nor has the falcon’s eye caught sight of it.⁸“The ¹proud beasts have not trodden it,Nor has the fierce lion passed over it.⁹“He sends his hand forth to the flint;He overturns the mountains at the ¹base.¹⁰“He breaks out channels through the rocks,And his eye sees anything precious.¹¹“He dams up the streams from ¹flowing,And what is hidden he brings out to the light.¹²“But ^awhere can wisdom be found?And where is the place of understanding?¹³“^aMan does not know its worth,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“^aPure gold cannot be given in place of it,Nor can silver be weighed as its price.¹⁶“It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,In precious onyx or sapphire.¹⁷“^aGold or glass cannot meet its worth,Nor can it be exchanged for articles of fine gold.¹⁸“Coral and crystal are not to be mentioned;And the acquisition of ^awisdom is above that of pearls.¹⁹“The topaz of ¹Ethiopia cannot meet its worth,Nor can it be valued in ^apure gold.²⁰“^aWhere then does wisdom come from?And where is the place of understanding?²¹“Thus it is hidden from the eyes of all livingAnd concealed from the birds of the sky.²²“¹^,^aAbaddon and Death say,‘With our ears we have heard a report of it.’²³“^aGod understands its way,And He knows its place.²⁴“For He ^alooks to the ends of the earthAnd sees everything under the heavens.²⁵“When He set ^aweight to the windAnd ^bmeted out the waters by measure,²⁶When He set a ^alimit for the rainAnd a course for the ^bthunderbolt,²⁷Then He saw it and recounted it;He established it and also searched it out.²⁸“So He said to man, ‘Behold, the ^afear of the Lord, that is wisdom;And to turn away from evil is understanding.’”