Job Chapter 28 Back Next{28:1} "Surely there is a
mine for silver, and a place for
gold which they refine.
{28:2}
Iron is taken out of the
earth, and
copper is smelted out of the ore.
{28:3} Man sets an end to
darkness, and searches out, to the furthest bound, the stones of obscurity and of thick darkness.
{28:4} He breaks open a shaft away from where people live. They are forgotten by the foot. They hang far from men, they swing back and forth.
{28:5} As for the earth, out of it comes
bread; Underneath it is turned up as it were by
fire.
{28:6} Sapphires come from its rocks. It has
dust of gold.
{28:7} That path no
bird of prey knows, neither has the falcon's eye seen it.
{28:8} The proud animals have not trodden it, nor has the fierce
lion passed by there.
{28:9} He puts forth his hand on the
flinty rock, and he overturns the mountains by the roots.
{28:10} He cuts out
channels among the rocks. His eye sees every precious thing.
{28:11} He binds the streams that they don't trickle. The thing that is hidden he brings forth to light.
{28:12} "But where shall wisdom be found? Where is the place of understanding?
{28:13} Man doesn't know its price; Neither is it found in the land of the living.
{28:14} The deep says, 'It isn't in me.' The sea says, 'It isn't with me.'
{28:15} It can't be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for its price.
{28:16} It can't be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the
sapphire.
{28:17} Gold and
glass can't equal it, neither shall it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.
{28:18} No mention shall be made of
coral or of
crystal. Yes, the price of wisdom is above rubies.
{28:19} The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, Neither shall it be valued with pure gold.
{28:20} Where then does wisdom come from? Where is the place of understanding?
{28:21} Seeing it is hidden from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the birds of the sky.
{28:22} Destruction and
Death say, 'We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.'
{28:23} "God understands its way, and he knows its place.
{28:24} For he looks to the ends of the earth, and sees under the whole sky.
{28:25} He establishes the force of the wind. Yes, he measures out the waters by measure.
{28:26} When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder;
{28:27} then he saw it, and declared it. He established it, yes, and searched it out.
{28:28} To man he said, 'Behold, the fear of the
Lord, that is wisdom. To depart from evil is understanding.'"
Job Chapter 28 Back Next