28:1  “Surely there is a mine for silver,
And a place where gold is refined.

28:2  Iron is taken from the earth,
And copper is smelted from ore.

28:3  Man puts an end to darkness,
And searches every recess
For ore in the darkness and the shadow of death.

28:4  He breaks open a shaft away from people;
In places forgotten by feet
They hang far away from men;
They swing to and fro.

28:5  As for the earth, from it comes bread,
But underneath it is turned up as by fire;

28:6  Its stones are the source of sapphires,
And it contains gold dust.

28:7  That path no bird knows,
Nor has the falcon’s eye seen it.

28:8  The proud lions have not trodden it,
Nor has the fierce lion passed over it.

28:9  He puts his hand on the flint;
He overturns the mountains at the roots.

28:10  He cuts out channels in the rocks,
And his eye sees every precious thing.

28:11  He dams up the streams from trickling;
What is hidden he brings forth to light.

28:12  “But where can wisdom be found?
And where is the place of understanding?

28:13  Man does not know its value,
Nor is it 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 purchased for gold,
Nor can silver be weighed for its price.

28:16  It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,
In precious onyx or sapphire.

28:17  Neither gold nor crystal can equal it,
Nor can it be exchanged for jewelry of fine gold.

28:18  No mention shall be made of coral or quartz,
For the price of wisdom is above rubies.

28:19  The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it,
Nor can it be valued in pure gold.

28:20  “From where then does wisdom come?
And where is the place of understanding?

28:21  It is hidden from the eyes of all living,
And concealed from the birds of the air.

28:22  Destruction and Death say,
‘We have heard a report about it with our ears.’

28:23  God understands its way,
And He knows its place.

28:24  For He looks to the ends of the earth,
And sees under the whole heavens,

28:25  To establish a weight for the wind,
And apportion the waters by measure.

28:26  When He made a law for the rain,
And a path for the thunderbolt,

28:27  Then He saw wisdom and declared it;
He prepared it, indeed, He searched it out.

28:28  And to man He said,
" Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,
And to depart from evil is understanding.""