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.'" |