Job 28

Job’s Discourse on Wisdom

1“Indeed, there is a mine for silver

and a place for gold to be refined.

2Iron is taken from dust,

and he pours out copper from ore.

3He puts an end to darkness,

and he searches out the farthest limits

for the ore in gloom and deep shadow.

4He breaks open a mine shaft away from where people dwell;[#Literally “from with dwelling”]

those who are forgotten by travelers,

they dangle, they sway far away from human beings.

5As for the earth, from it comes food,[#Or “bread”]

but underneath it, it is turned up as by fire.

6Its stones are the place of sapphire,

and the earthen dirt has gold.

7“It is a path a bird of prey does not know

and the black kite’s eye has not seen.

8Proud wild animals have not trodden it;[#Literally “The sons of pride”]

the lion in its prime has not prowled over it.

9He puts his hand on the hard rock;

he overturns mountains by the roots.

10He cuts out tunnels in the rocks,

and his eye sees every treasure.

11He dams up rivers from their sources,

and he brings secret things to the light.

12“But from where will wisdom be found?[#Hebrew “And”]

And where in the world is the place of understanding?

13A human being does not know its proper value,

and it is not found in the land of the living.

14The deep says, ‘It is not in me,’

and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’

15“Refined gold cannot be gotten in its place,

and silver cannot be weighed out as its price.

16It cannot be bought for the gold of Ophir,

for precious onyx or sapphire.

17Gold and glass cannot be compared with it,

and its substitution cannot be an ornament of refined gold.

18Black corals and crystal will not be mentioned,

and wisdom’s price is more than red corals.

19The topaz of Cush cannot be compared with it;

it cannot be bought for pure gold.

20Indeed, from where does wisdom come?[#Hebrew “And”]

And where in the world is the place of understanding?

21It is hidden from the eyes of all living,

and it is concealed from the birds of the heaven.

22Abaddon and Death say,

‘We heard its rumor with our ears.’

23“God understands its way,

and he knows its place,

24for he himself looks to the end of the earth;[#Emphatic personal pronoun]

he sees under all the heaven.

25When he gave weight to the wind[#Literally “To give”]

and he apportioned the waters by measure,

26when he made a rule for the rain[#Literally “at his making”]

and a way for the thunder’s lightning bolt,

27then he saw it and talked about it;

he established it, and moreover, he explored it.

28And to the human beings he said,

‘Look, the fear of the Lord is wisdom,

and to depart from evil is understanding.’ ”

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Published by: Logos Bible Software