1 “ Surely there is a mine for silver And a place where they refine gold.

Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold where they fine it.

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

Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass is molten out of the stone.

3 “ Man puts an end to darkness, And to the farthest limit he searches out The rock in gloom and deep shadow.

He setteth an end to darkness, and searcheth out all perfection: the stones of darkness, and the 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.

The flood breaketh out from the inhabitant; even the waters forgotten of the foot: they are dried up, they are gone away from men.

5 “ The earth, from it comes food, And underneath it is turned up as fire.

As for the earth, out of it cometh bread: and under it is turned up as it were fire.

6 “ Its rocks are the source of sapphires, And its dust contains gold.

The stones of it are the place of sapphires: and it hath dust of gold.

7 “ The path no bird of prey knows, Nor has the falcon’s eye caught sight of it.

There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture's eye hath not seen:

8 “ The proud beasts have not trodden it, Nor has the fierce lion passed over it.

The lion's whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed by it.

9 “ He puts his hand on the flint; He overturns the mountains at the base.

He putteth forth his hand upon the rock; he overturneth the mountains by the roots.

10 “ He hews out channels through the rocks, And his eye sees anything precious.

He cutteth out rivers among the rocks; and his eye seeth every precious thing.

11 “ He dams up the streams from flowing, And what is hidden he brings out to the light. The Search for Wisdom Is Harder

He bindeth the floods from overflowing; and the thing that is hid bringeth he forth to light.

12 “ But where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?

But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding?

13 “ Man does not know its value, Nor is it found in the land of the living.

Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it 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.’

The depth saith, It is not in me: and the sea saith, It is not with me.

15 “ Pure gold cannot be given in exchange for it, Nor can silver be weighed as its price.

It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof.

16 “ It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, In precious onyx, or sapphire.

It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire.

17 “ Gold or glass cannot equal it, Nor can it be exchanged for articles of fine gold.

The gold and the crystal cannot equal it: and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold.

18 “ Coral and crystal are not to be mentioned; And the acquisition of wisdom is above that of pearls.

No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: for the price of wisdom is above rubies.

19 “ The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it, Nor can it be valued in pure gold.

The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither shall it be valued with pure gold.

20 “ Where then does wisdom come from? And where is the place of understanding?

Whence then cometh wisdom? 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.

Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air.

22 “ Abaddon and Death say, ‘With our ears we have heard a report of it.’

Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears.

23 “ God understands its way, And He knows its place.

God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof.

24 “ For He looks to the ends of the earth And sees everything under the heavens.

For he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven;

25 “ When He imparted weight to the wind And meted out the waters by measure,

To make the weight for the winds; and he weigheth the waters by measure.

26 W hen He set a limit for the rain And a course for the thunderbolt,

When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder:

27 T hen He saw it and declared it; He established it and also searched it out.

Then did he see it, and declare it; he prepared it, yea, and searched it out.

28 “ And to man He said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; And to depart from evil is understanding.’”

And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.