28:1   "Surely there exists a mine for silver And a place where they refine gold.

28:2   "They take iron from the dust, And they smelt copper from rock.

28:3  "Man puts an end to darkness, And to the farthest limit he searches out The rock in gloom and deep shadow.

28:4  "He sinks a shaft far from habitation, Forgotten by the foot; They hang and swing to and fro far from men.

28:5   "The earth, from it comes food, And underneath it turns up as fire.

28:6   "Its rocks provide the source of sapphires, And its dust contains gold.

28:7  "The path no bird of prey knows, Nor has the falcon's eye caught sight of it.

28:8  "The proud beasts 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 base.

28:10   "He hews out channels through the rocks, And his eye sees anything precious.

28:11  "He dams up the streams from flowing, And what they try to hide he brings out to the light.

28:12   "But where can we find wisdom ? And where can we find the place of understanding?

28:13   " Man does not know its value, Nor can we find it in the land of the living.

28:14  The deep says ,"I don't have it in me,And the sea says, ' I don't have it with me.'

28:15   " Pure gold we cannot exchange for it, Nor can we weigh silver as its price.

28:16   " We cannot value it in the gold of Ophir, In precious onyx, or sapphire.

28:17  " Gold or glass cannot equal it, Nor can we exchange it for articles of fine gold.

28:18   "Coral and crystal we cannot even mention; And the acquisition of wisdom we value above that of pearls.

28:19   "The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it, Nor can we value it in pure gold.

28:20   " Where then does wisdom come from? And where can we locate the place of understanding?

28:21  "Thus it hides from the eyes of all living And conceals itself from the birds of the sky.

28:22  " Abaddon and Death say, 'With our ears we have heard a report of it.'

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

28:24  "For He looks to the ends of the earth And sees everything under the heavens.

28:25   "When He imparted weight to the wind And meted out the waters by measure,

28:26   When He set a limit for the rain And a course for the thunderbolt,

28:27   Then He saw it and declared it; He established it and also searched it out.

28:28   "And to man He said, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that we acknowledge as wisdom; And to depart from evil we recognize as understanding.'"