1“Surely there is a mine for silver
and a place where gold is refined.
1“ Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place for the gold that they refine.
2Iron is taken from the earth,
and copper is smelted from ore.
2Iron is taken from the dust, and from rock copper is smelted.
3Man puts an end to the darkness;
he probes the farthest recesses
for ore in deepest darkness.
3An end he has set for the darkness, yet to every limit he is searching out, a stone in darkness and the shadow of death.
4Far from human habitation he cuts a shaft
in places forgotten by the foot of man.
Far from men he dangles and sways.
4He opens a shaft away from habitation; those forgotten by the foot, they hang down away from man, and they sway.
5Food may come from the earth,
but from below it is transformed as by fire.
5The earth, from which bread comes forth, and underneath is turned as by fire—
6Its rocks are the source of sapphires,
containing flecks of gold.
6a place of sapphire are its stones, and dust of gold is unto it.
7No bird of prey knows that path;
no falcon’s eye has seen it.
7The path no bird of prey knows, and no eye of a falcon has seen it.
8Proud beasts have never trodden it;
no lion has ever prowled over it.
8The sons of pride have not trodden it, and the lion has not passed over it.
9The miner strikes the flint;
he overturns mountains at their base.
9Against the flinty rock he stretched out his hand; he overturns the hills from the root.
10He hews out channels in the rocks,
and his eyes spot every treasure.
10In the rocks he cuts out channels, and his eye sees every precious thing.
11He stops upa the sources of the streams
to bring what is hidden to light.
11The rivers he has bound from weeping, and a hidden thing he brings to light.
12But where can wisdom be found,
and where does understanding dwell?
12And wisdom—from where is it found? And where is this place of understanding?
13No man can know its value,
nor is it found in the land of the living.
13Man does not know its value, and it is not found in the land of the living.
14The ocean depths say, ‘It is not in me,’
while the sea declares, ‘It is not with me.’
14The deep says, ‘It is not in me,’ and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
15It cannot be bought with gold,
nor can its price be weighed out in silver.
15Gold cannot be given for it, nor can silver be weighed for its price.
16It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,
in precious onyx or sapphire.
16It is not valued with the gold of Ophir, with precious onyx or sapphire.
17Neither gold nor crystal can compare to it,
nor jewels of fine gold be exchanged for it.
17Gold and crystal cannot equal it, or is its exchange a vessel of fine gold.
18Coral and quartz are unworthy of mention;
the price of wisdom is beyond rubies.
18Coral and quartz are not to be mentioned; and the acquisition of wisdom is more than rubies.
19Topaz from Cusha cannot compare to it,
nor can it be valued in pure gold.
19The topaz of Cush cannot equal it, nor it is valued in pure gold.
20From where, then, does wisdom come,
20And the wisdom, from where does it come? And where is this place of understanding?
21It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing
and concealed from the birds of the air.
21And is it hidden from the eyes of every living thing; even from the birds of the heavens it is concealed.
22Abaddona and Death say,
‘We have heard a rumor about it.’
22Abaddon and Death say, ‘We have heard a report of it with our ears.’
23But God understands its way,
and He knows its place.
23God has understood its way, and He has known its place.
24For He looks to the ends of the earth
and sees everything under the heavens.
24For He looks to the ends of the earth, and He sees under all the heavens,
25When God fixed the weight of the wind
and measured out the waters,
25to make for the wind a weight, and He portioned out the waters by measure,
26when He set a limit for the rain
and a path for the thunderbolt,
26in His making a limit for the rain, and a path for the flash of the thunders—
27then He looked at wisdom and appraised it;
He established it and searched it out.
27then He saw and recounted it; He established it and also searched it out.
28And He said to man, ‘Behold,
the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,
and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”
28And He said to the man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord—that is wisdom, and the turning aside from evil is understanding.’”