1Surely there is a mine for silver , And a place for gold which they refine . 2Iron is taken out of the earth , And copper is molten out of the stone. 3Man setteth an end to darkness , And searcheth out , to the furthest bound, The stones of obscurity and of thick darkness . 4He breaketh open a shaft away from where men sojourn ; They are forgotten of the foot ; They hang afar from men, they swing to and fro . 5As for the earth, out of it cometh bread ; And underneath it is turned up as it were by fire. 6The stones thereof are the place of sapphires , And it hath dust of gold . 7That path no bird of prey knoweth , Neither hath the falcon’s eye seen it : 8The proud beasts have not trodden it , Nor hath the fierce lion passed thereby. 9He putteth forth his hand upon the flinty rock ; He overturneth the mountains by the roots . 10He cutteth out channels among the rocks ; And his eye seeth every precious thing . 11He bindeth the streams that they trickle not ; And the thing that is hid bringeth he forth to light.
The Inaccessibility of Wisdom
12But where shall wisdom be found ? And where is the place of understanding? 13Man knoweth not the price thereof ; Neither is it found in the land of the living . 14The deep saith, It is not in me ; And the sea saith, It is not with me . 15It cannot be gotten for gold , Neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof. 16It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, With the precious onyx , or the sapphire . 17Gold and glass cannot equal it , Neither shall it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold . 18No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal : Yea, the price of wisdom is above rubies . 19The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it , Neither shall it be valued with pure gold .
The Divine Source of Wisdom
20Whence then cometh wisdom ? And where is the place of understanding? 21Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living , And kept close from the birds of the heavens . 22Destruction and Death say, We have heard a rumor thereof with our ears. 23God understandeth the way thereof, And he knoweth the place thereof. 24For he looketh to the ends of the earth , And seeth under the whole heaven ; 25To make a weight for the wind : Yea, he meteth out the waters by measure . 26When he made a decree for the rain , And a way for the lightning of the thunder ; 27Then did he see it , and declare it ; He established it , yea , and searched it out . 28And unto man he said, Behold , the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom ; And to depart from evil is understanding.