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