Chapter 28

  Surely there is a mine for silver, And a place for gold which they refine.  

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  Iron is taken out of the earth, And copper is molten out of the stone.  

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  [Man] setteth an end to darkness, And searcheth out, to the furthest bound, The stones of obscurity and of thick darkness.  

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  He breaketh open a shaft away from where men sojourn; They are forgotten of the foot; They hang afar from men, they swing to and fro.  

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  As for the earth, out of it cometh bread; And underneath it is turned up as it were by fire.  

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  The stones thereof are the place of sapphires, And it hath dust of gold.  

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  That path no bird of prey knoweth, Neither hath the falcon's eye seen it:  

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  The proud beasts have not trodden it, Nor hath the fierce lion passed thereby.  

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

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  He cutteth out channels among the rocks; And his eye seeth every precious thing.  

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  He bindeth the streams that they trickle not; And the thing that is hid bringeth he forth to light.  

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

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  Man knoweth not the price thereof; Neither is it found in the land of the living.  

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  The deep saith, It is not in me; And the sea saith, It is not with me.  

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

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

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  Gold and glass cannot equal it, Neither shall it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.  

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

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

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  Whence then cometh wisdom? And where is the place of understanding?  

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  Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, And kept close from the birds of the heavens.  

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  Destruction and Death say, We have heard a rumor thereof with our ears.  

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

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

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  To make a weight for the wind: Yea, he meteth out the waters by measure.  

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  When he made a decree for the rain, And a way for the lightning of the thunder;  

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

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

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