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

2 Iron is taken from the¹ earth,
And copper is smelted from ore. ‡

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 The¹ proud lions have not trodden it,
Nor has the fierce lion passed over it. ‡

9 He puts his hand on the flint;
He overturns the mountains¹ at the roots. ‡

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? ‡

13 Man does not know its ^avalue,
Nor is it found in the land of the living. ‡

14 ^aThe deep says, ‘It is not in me’;
And the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’ ‡

15 It ^acannot be purchased for gold,
Nor can silver be weighed for its price. ‡

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

17 Neither ^agold nor crystal can equal it,
Nor can it be exchanged for¹ jewelry of fine gold. ‡

18 No mention shall be made of¹ coral or quartz,
For the price of wisdom is above ^arubies. ‡

19 The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it,
Nor can it be valued in pure ^agold. ‡

20 “From^a where then does wisdom come?
And where is the place of understanding? ‡

21 It is hidden from the eyes of all living,
And concealed from the birds of the¹ air. ‡

22 ^aDestruction¹ and Death say,
‘We have heard a report about it with our ears.’ ‡

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

24 For He looks to the ends of the earth,
And ^asees under the whole heavens, ‡

25 ^aTo establish a weight for the wind,
And apportion the waters by measure. ‡

26 When He ^amade a law for the rain,
And a path for the thunderbolt, ‡

27 Then He saw¹ wisdom and declared it;
He prepared it, indeed, He searched it out. ‡

28 And to man He said,
‘Behold, ^athe fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,
And to depart from evil is understanding.’ ” ‡