Job’s Discourse on Wisdom
1 “Surely there is a mine for silver,
And a place
where gold is refined.
2 Iron is taken from the
1 earth,
And copper
is smelted
from ore.
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3 Man puts an end to darkness,
And searches every recess
For ore in the darkness and the shadow of death.
4 He breaks open a shaft away from people;
In places forgotten by feet
They hang far away from men;
They swing to and fro.
5 As for the earth, from it comes bread,
But underneath it is turned up as by fire;
6 Its stones
are the source of sapphires,
And it contains gold dust.
7 That path no bird knows,
Nor has the falcon’s eye seen it.
8 The
1 proud lions have not trodden it,
Nor has the fierce lion passed over it.
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9 He puts his hand on the flint;
He overturns the mountains
1 at the roots.
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10 He cuts out channels in the rocks,
And his eye sees every precious thing.
11 He dams up the streams from trickling;
What is hidden he brings forth to light.
12 “But
a where can wisdom be found?
And where
is the place of understanding?
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13 Man does not know its
a value,
Nor is it found in the land of the living.
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14 a The deep says,
‘It is not in me’;
And the sea says,
‘It is not with me.’
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15 It
a cannot be purchased for gold,
Nor can silver be weighed
for its price.
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16 It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,
In precious onyx or sapphire.
17 Neither
a gold nor crystal can equal it,
Nor can it be exchanged for
1 jewelry of fine gold.
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18 No mention shall be made of
1 coral or quartz,
For the price of wisdom
is above
a rubies.
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19 The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it,
Nor can it be valued in pure
a gold.
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20 “From
a where then does wisdom come?
And where
is the place of understanding?
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21 It is hidden from the eyes of all living,
And concealed from the birds of the
1 air.
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22 a Destruction
1 and Death say,
‘We have heard a report about it with our ears.’
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23 God understands its way,
And He knows its place.
24 For He looks to the ends of the earth,
And a sees under the whole heavens,
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25 a To establish a weight for the wind,
And apportion the waters by measure.
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26 When He
a made a law for the rain,
And a path for the thunderbolt,
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27 Then He saw
1 wisdom and declared it;
He prepared it, indeed, He searched it out.
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28 And to man He said,
‘Behold,
a the fear of the Lord, that
is wisdom,
And to depart from evil
is understanding.’ ”
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New King James Version®, Copyright© 1982, Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
