RSV Job 28 Chapter
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 from the ore.
28:3
Men put an end to darkness, and search out to the farthest bound the ore in gloom and deep darkness.
28:4
They open shafts in a valley away from where men live;they are forgotten by travelers, they hang afar from men, they swing to and fro.
28:5
As for the earth, out of it comes bread;but underneath it is turned up as by fire.
28:6
Its stones are the place of sapphires, and it has dust of gold.
28:7
'That path no bird of prey knows, and the falcon's eye has not seen it.
28:8
The proud beasts have not trodden it;the lion has not passed over it.
28:9
'Man puts his hand to the flinty rock, and overturns mountains by the roots.
28:10
He cuts out channels in the rocks, and his eye sees every precious thing.
28:11
He binds up the streams so that they do not trickle, and the thing that is hid he brings forth to light.
28:12
'But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?
28:13
Man does not know the way to it, and it is not found in the land of the living.
28:14
The deep says, It is not in me,' and the sea says, It is not with me.'
28:15
It cannot be gotten for gold, and silver cannot be weighed as its price.
28:16
It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, in precious onyx or sapphire.
28:17
Gold and glass cannot equal it, nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.
28:18
No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal;the price of wisdom is above pearls.
28:19
The topaz of Ethiopia cannot compare with it, nor can it be valued in pure gold.
28:20
'Whence then comes wisdom? And where is the place of understanding?
28:21
It is hid from the eyes of all living, and concealed from the birds of the air.
28:22
Abaddon and Death say, We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.'
28:23
'God understands the way to it, and he knows its place.
28:24
For he looks to the ends of the earth, and sees everything under the heavens.
28:25
When he gave to the wind its weight, and meted 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, and searched it out.
28:28
And he said to man, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;and to depart from evil is understanding.''