• Where Can Wisdom Be Found?

  • 1 “Surely there is a mine for silver, And a place where 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 to the farthest limit he searches out The rock in thick darkness and shadow of death.
  • 4 “He sinks a shaft far from habitation, 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 source 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 proud 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 base.
  • 10 “He breaks out channels through the rocks, And his eye sees anything precious.
  • 11 “He dams up the streams from flowing, And what is hidden he brings out to the light.
  • 12 “But where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?
  • 13 “Man 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 “Pure 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 “Gold 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 wisdom is above that of pearls.
  • 19 “The topaz of Ethiopia cannot meet its worth, Nor can it be valued in pure gold.
  • 20 “Where then does wisdom come from? And where is the place of understanding?
  • 21 “Thus it is hidden from the eyes of all living And concealed from the birds of the sky.
  • 22 “Abaddon and Death say, ‘With our ears we have heard a report of it.’
  • 23 “God understands its way, And He knows its place.
  • 24 “For He looks to the ends of the earth And sees everything under the heavens.
  • 25 “When He set weight to the wind And meted out the waters by measure,
  • 26 When He set a limit for the rain And a course for the thunderbolt,
  • 27 Then He saw it and recounted it; He established it and also searched it out.
  • 28 “So He said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; And to turn away from evil is understanding.’”