28:1   Gold and silver are mined, then purified;

28:2   the same is done with iron and copper.

28:3   Miners carry lanterns deep into the darkness to search for these metals.

28:4   They dig tunnels in distant, unknown places, where they dangle by ropes.

28:5   Far beneath the grain fields, fires are built to break loose those rocks

28:6   that have jewels or gold.

28:7   Miners go to places unseen by the eyes of hawks;

28:8   they walk on soil unknown to the proudest lions.

28:9   With their own hands they remove sharp rocks and uproot mountains.

28:10   They dig through the rocks in search of jewels and precious metals.

28:11   They also uncover the sources of rivers and discover secret places.

28:12   But where is wisdom found?

28:13   No human knows the way.

28:14   Nor can it be discovered in the deepest sea.

28:15   It is worth much more than silver or pure gold

28:16   or precious stones.

28:17   Nothing is its equal-- not gold or costly glass.

28:18   Wisdom is worth much more than coral, jasper, or rubies.

28:19   All the topaz of Ethiopia and the finest gold cannot compare with it.

28:20   Where then is wisdom?

28:21   It is hidden from human eyes and even from birds.

28:22   Death and destruction have merely heard rumors about where it is found.

28:23   God is the only one who knows the way to wisdom,

28:24   because he sees everything beneath the heavens.

28:25   When God divided out the wind and the water,

28:26   and when he decided the path for rain and lightning,

28:27   he also determined the truth and defined wisdom.

28:28   God told us, "Wisdom means that you respect me, the Lord, and turn from sin."