Job 28

Job Tells of Earth’s Treasures

1 “Certainly there is a ▼

▼Lit source

mine for silver
And a place ▼

▼Lit for gold they refine

for refining gold.
2 “Iron is taken from the dust,
And copper is smelted from rock.
3 “Man puts an end to darkness,
And ^cto the farthest limit he searches out
The rock in gloom and deep shadow.
4 “He ▼

▼Lit breaks open

sinks a shaft away from ▼

▼Lit sojourning

inhabited areas,
Forgotten by the foot;
They hang and swing, away from people.
5 “ ▼

▼Lit Earth, from it

From the earth comes food,
And underneath, it is turned over like fire.
6 “Its rocks are the ▼

▼Or place

source of sapphires,
And its dust contains gold.
7 “No bird of prey knows the path,
Nor has the falcon’s eye caught sight of it.
8 “The ▼

▼Lit sons of pride

proud animals have not trodden it,
Nor has the lion passed over it.
9 “He puts his hand on the flint;
He overturns the mountains at the ▼

▼Lit root

base.
10 “He carves out channels through the rocks,
And his eye sees anything precious.
11 “He dams up the streams from ▼

▼Lit weeping

flowing,
And brings to light what is hidden.

The Search for Wisdom Is Harder

12 “But ^kwhere can wisdom be found?
And where is the place of understanding?
13 “ ^lMankind does not know its value,
Nor is it found in the land of the living.
14 “The ocean depth says, ‘It is not in me’;
And the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
15 “ ^mPure gold cannot be given in exchange for it,
Nor can silver be weighed as its price.
16 “It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,
In precious onyx, or sapphire.
17 “ ⁿGold or glass cannot equal it,
Nor can it be exchanged for articles of pure gold.
18 “Coral and crystal are not to be mentioned;
And the acquisition of ^owisdom is more valuable than pearls.
19 “The topaz of ▼

▼Or Ethiopia

Cush cannot equal it,
Nor can it be valued in ^qpure gold.
20 “ ^rWhere then does wisdom come from?
And where is this place of understanding?
21 “It is hidden from the eyes of every living creature,
And concealed from the birds of the sky.
22 “ ▼

▼I.e., Destruction

, ^tAbaddon and Death say,
‘With our ears we have heard a report of it.’

23 “ ^uGod understands its way,
And He knows its place.
24 “For He ^vlooks to the ends of the earth;
He sees everything under the heavens.
25 “When He imparted ^wweight to the wind,
And ^xassessed the waters by measure,
26 When He made a ^ylimit for the rain,
And a course for the ^zthunderbolt,
27 Then He saw it and declared it;
He established it and also searched it out.
28 “And to mankind He said, ‘Behold, the ^aafear of the Lord, that is wisdom;
And to turn away from evil is understanding.’”