Job 28 — ULB

28Verse 1Surely there is a mine for silver,
a place where they refine gold.
^{Verse 2}Iron is taken out of the earth;
copper is smelted out of the stone.
^{Verse 3}A man sets an end to darkness
and searches out, to the farthest limit,
the stones in obscurity and thick darkness.
^{Verse 4}He breaks open a shaft away from where people live,
places that are forgotten by anyone's foot.
He hangs far away from people; he swings to and fro.
^{Verse 5}As for the earth, out of which comes bread,
it is turned up below as if by fire.
^{Verse 6}Its stones are the place where sapphires are found,
and its dust contains gold.
^{Verse 7}No bird of prey knows the path to it,
nor has the falcon's eye seen it.
^{Verse 8}The proud animals have not walked such a path,
nor has the fierce lion passed there.
^{Verse 9}A man lays his hand on the flinty rock;
he overturns mountains by their roots.
^{Verse 10}He cuts out channels among the rocks;
his eye sees every valuable thing there.
^{Verse 11}He ties up the streams so they do not run;
what is hidden there he brings out to the light.^{Verse 12}Where will wisdom be found?
Where is the place of understanding?
^{Verse 13}Man does not know its price;
neither is it found in the land of the living.
^{Verse 14}The deep waters under the earth say, 'It is not in me';
the sea says, 'It is not with me.'
^{Verse 15}It cannot be gotten for gold;
neither can silver be weighed as its price.
^{Verse 16}It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir,
with precious onyx or sapphire.
^{Verse 17}Gold and crystal cannot equal it in worth;
neither can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.
^{Verse 18}No mention is worth making of coral or jasper;
indeed, the price of wisdom is more than rubies.
^{Verse 19}The topaz of Cush does not equal it;
neither can it be valued in terms of pure gold.
^{Verse 20}From where, then, comes wisdom?
Where is the place of understanding?
^{Verse 21}Wisdom is hidden from the eyes of all living things
and is kept hidden from the birds of the heavens.
^{Verse 22}Destruction and Death say,
'We have heard just a rumor about it with our ears.'^{Verse 23}God understands the way to it;
he knows its place.
^{Verse 24}For he looks to the very ends of the earth
and sees under all the heavens.
^{Verse 25}He made the force of the wind
and parceled out the waters by measure.
^{Verse 26}He made a decree for the rain
and a path for the thunder.
^{Verse 27}Then he saw wisdom and announced it;
he established it, indeed, and he examined it.
^{Verse 28}To people he said,
'See, the fear of the Lord—that is wisdom;
to depart from evil is understanding.'”