28 “Surely there is a ^[a]mine for silver
And a place ^[b]where they refine gold.
² “Iron 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.
⁴ “He ^[c]sinks a shaft far from ^[d]habitation,
Forgotten by the foot;
They hang and swing to and fro far from men.
⁵ “The earth, from it comes food,
And underneath it is turned up as fire.
⁶ “Its rocks are the ^[e]source of sapphires,
And its dust contains gold.
⁷ “The path no bird of prey knows,
Nor has the falcon’s eye caught sight of it.
⁸ “The ^[f]proud beasts have not trodden it,
Nor has the fierce lion passed over it.
⁹ “He puts his hand on the flint;
He overturns the mountains at the ^[g]base.
¹⁰ “He hews out channels through the rocks,
And his eye sees anything precious.
¹¹ “He dams up the streams from ^[h]flowing,
And what is hidden he brings out to the light.

¹² “But where can wisdom be found?
And where is the place of understanding?
¹³ “Man does not know its value,
Nor is it found in the land of the living.
¹⁴ “The deep says, ‘It is not in me’;
And the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
¹⁵ “Pure gold cannot be given in exchange for it,
Nor can silver be weighed as its price.
¹⁶ “It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,
In precious onyx, or sapphire.
¹⁷ “Gold or glass cannot equal it,
Nor can it be exchanged for articles of fine gold.
¹⁸ “Coral and crystal are not to be mentioned;
And the acquisition of wisdom is above that of pearls.
¹⁹ “The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it,
Nor can it be valued in pure gold.
²⁰ “Where then does wisdom come from?
And where is the place of understanding?
²¹ “Thus it is hidden from the eyes of all living
And concealed from the birds of the sky.
²² “^[i]Abaddon and Death say,
‘With our ears we have heard a report of it.’