| 1 | “Surely there is a mine for silver, And a place where gold is refined. |
| 2 | Iron is taken from the earth, And copper is smelted from ore. |
| 3 | Man puts an end to darkness, And searches every recess For ore in the darkness and the shadow of death. |
| 4 | He breaks open a shaft away from people; In places forgotten by feet They hang far away from men; They swing to and fro. |
| 5 | As for the earth, from it comes bread, But underneath it is turned up as by fire; |
| 6 | Its stones are the source of sapphires, And it contains gold dust. |
| 7 | That path no bird knows, Nor has the falcon’s eye seen it. |
| 8 | The proud lions have not trodden it, Nor has the fierce lion passed over it. |
| 9 | He puts his hand on the flint; He overturns the mountains at the roots. |
| 10 | He cuts out channels in the rocks, And his eye sees every precious thing. |
| 11 | He dams up the streams from trickling; What is hidden he brings forth to light. |
| 12 | “But where can 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. |
| 14 | The deep says, ‘It is not in me’; And the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’ |
| 15 | It cannot be purchased for gold, Nor can silver be weighed for its price. |
| 16 | It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, In precious onyx or sapphire. |
| 17 | Neither gold nor crystal can equal it, Nor can it be exchanged for jewelry of fine gold. |
| 18 | No mention shall be made of coral or quartz, For the price of wisdom is above rubies. |
| 19 | The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it, Nor can it be valued in pure gold. |
| 20 | “From where then does wisdom come? And where is the place of understanding? |
| 21 | It is hidden from the eyes of all living, And concealed from the birds of the air. |
| 22 | Destruction and Death say, ‘We have heard a report about it with our ears.’ |
| 23 | God understands its way, And He knows its place. |
| 24 | For He looks to the ends of the earth, And sees under the whole heavens, |
| 25 | To establish a weight for the wind, And apportion the waters by measure. |
| 26 | When He made a law for the rain, And a path for the thunderbolt, |
| 27 | Then He saw wisdom and declared it; He prepared it, indeed, He 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.’ ” |
