Aa
Job Tells of Earth’s Treasures
1“Certainly there is a Lit sourcemine for silver
And a place Lit for gold they refinefor refining gold.
2Iron is taken from the dust,
And copper is smelted from rock.
3 Man puts an end to darkness,
And to the farthest limit he searches out
The rock in gloom and deep shadow.
4He Lit breaks opensinks a shaft away from Lit sojourninginhabited areas,
Forgotten by the foot;
They hang and swing, away from people.
5 Lit Earth, from it From the earth comes food,
And underneath, it is turned over like fire.
6Its rocks are the Or placesource of sapphires,
And its dust contains gold.
7No bird of prey knows the path,
Nor has the falcon’s eye caught sight of it.
8The Lit sons of prideproud animals have not trodden it,
Nor has the lion passed over it.
9He puts his hand on the flint;
He overturns the mountains at the Lit rootbase.
10He carves out channels through the rocks,
And his eye sees anything precious.
11He dams up the streams from Lit weepingflowing,
And brings to light what is hidden.
The Search for Wisdom Is Harder
12“But where can wisdom be found?
And where is the place of understanding?
13Mankind does not know its value,
Nor is it found in the land of the living.
14The ocean depth says, ‘It is not in me’;
And the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
15Pure gold cannot be given in exchange for it,
Nor can silver be weighed as its price.
16It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,
In precious onyx, or sapphire.
17Gold or glass cannot equal it,
Nor can it be exchanged for articles of pure gold.
18Coral and crystal are not to be mentioned;
And the acquisition of wisdom is more valuable than pearls.
19The topaz of Or EthiopiaCush cannot equal it,
Nor can it be valued in pure gold.
20Where then does wisdom come from?
And where is this place of understanding?
21It is hidden from the eyes of every living creature,
And concealed from the birds of the sky.
22 I.e., Destruction Abaddon and Death say,
‘With our ears we have heard a report of it.’
23“God understands its way,
And He knows its place.
24For He looks to the ends of the earth;
He sees everything under the heavens.
25When He imparted weight to the wind,
And assessed the waters by measure,
26When He made a limit for the rain,
And a course for the thunderbolt,
27Then He saw it and declared it;
He established it and also searched it out.
28And to mankind He said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;
And to turn away from evil is understanding.’ ”